


The Strongest of Them All

by Kyodon



Category: Dragon Ball, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Midoriya Izuku Has One for All Quirk, Midoriya Izuku Has a Quirk, Midoriya Izuku is a Ray of Sunshine
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:00:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27759532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyodon/pseuds/Kyodon
Summary: Izuku Midoriya had one goal. To become the strongest hero that ever lived! And save everyone! With a quirk that lets him manipulate his ki and his two best friends Zamasu and Videl, he'll go to U.A. and train hard to live out his dreams! Many foes will get in his way but he'll power up and blast through his foes.
Relationships: Midoriya Izuku & Uraraka Ochako
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	1. Episode 1: The Journey begins

"Stop it Kacchan!"

Izuku Midoriya, age 5, was standing in front of a young, crying boy, while three bullies loomed towards him.

One of them, his former friend, Katsuki Bakugo.

"You really still trying to play hero? Even when you're powerless?" Bakugo smugly sneered at him. "All you quirk does is give you that stupid monkey tail!"

Izuku grit his teeth. Unmoving, and unflinching. "I don't care! Just leave him alone!"

All three bullies had their quirks active, and ready to use.

"I think it's time we showed Deku where his place is!" Bakugo shouted as he started running towards Izuku.

Izuku readied himself, he knew he couldn't win this fight. But he had to try.

He held his hand out in front of him and readied himself from the pain.

And then, he felt something travel through him.

**PEW!**

Suddenly, a ball of light formed in Izuku's hand, and shot out towards Bakugo, hitting the boy in the face.

"Agh!?" Bakugo stopped his charge as the blast hit his face.

It felt like someone threw a hot pebble right between his eyes. It didn't hurt too much but it stung a little.

"Grrrr! What the hell was that Deku!?" Bakugo shouted in confusion and rage.

Izuku didn't know either. Everything suddenly felt...different.

He could feel something flowing through his entire body. Dwelling deep within him.

Izuku held out his hand again and called the energy to the surface.

And once more, a bright yellow ball of energy, formed in his hand and floating above his palm.

"It's...it's my quirk!" Izuku shouted out in joy, and an excited smile came onto his face. "I can shoot lasers!"

"Yeah! Weak ass lasers!" Bakugo pointed out, any positivity in his attitude fading away as he saw the elation on Deku's face. "It's not gonna save you Deku! Get him!"

With that, Bakugo and his two minions charged at Izuku.

Izuku put both his hands in front of him and called out as much energy as he could as fast as he could, and a barrage of energy balls flew out of Izuku's hands and towards the three bullies.

"Ahhh!" The two bullies stopped charging and held up their arms to try and block the blast.

However, Bakugo just kept on charging through it, ignoring the stings.

As Bakugo got closer, Izuku started to panic. His blast was too weak! He needed something stronger.

So he strained his muscles, trying to pull out as much energy into one blast as he could.

His barrage stopped and Bakugo grinned as the stinging blast stopped coming at him.

"Ha! Did you run out of juice already! Your quirks even shitter than I thought!" Bakugo grinned like a feral beast, closing in his prey.

But Deku could feel it, the energy welling up inside him and ready to burst.

Bakugo got into range and went to explode Izuku right in the face.

**BOOM!**

Both Izuku and Bakugo unleashed their attacks. Bakugo unleashes an explosion right in Izuku's face, and Izuku unleashes an explosion of his own, at Bakugo's chest.

"AhhhhH!" Both boys were blown back to the ground.

"Gah! DEKUUUUUU!" Bakugo shouted out in rage. It felt like someone had thrown a hot rock at his chest, and unlike the other blast, it had hurt quite a bit. But it wasn't enough to keep him down and he quickly got back up, and more pissed off than ever.

Deku however was still recovering from the explosion that had hit him right in the face. It having more power than his blast.

Bakugo stood over Izuku, ready to beat the crap out of him. He raised his hand and prepared to hit him with more explosions.

"HAHHHH!"

**VRRRRRR!**

Suddenly, another kid came out of nowhere and charged at Bakugo. His hand glowed with some kind of purple energy, and when he swiped his hand over Bakugo's chest, a cut appeared in both Bakugo's clothes and his chest!

"Aghhhhhh!" Bakugo stumbled back and clutched his chest. The cut wasn't too deep, not even deep enough to draw blood, but it still hurt way more than the five-year-old was ready for.

Izuku opened his eyes, finally recovering from the blast to the face, and saw the boy standing in front of him. Facing Bakugo.

"I've had enough!" The boy said. His skin was a shade of bright green, with white hair and a mohawk. His clothes were fancy and expensive-looking, and anyone could easily tell that his family was well off just by looking at him. "Your actions are inexcusable! And I will tolerate this villainous act no longer!"

"Tch! Who the hell are you calling a villain snot skin!" If looks could kill then the green boy would have exploded from the glare. But to be fair the other boy's glare wasn't lacking in malice either.

"My name is not scot skin. It is Zamasu Kai. But you may call my Zamasu." Zamasu introduced himself. "Consider it an honor."

"I'll call you dead!" Bakugo charged at Zamasu and unleashed an explosion at the boy's chest.

"Grr!" Zamasu growled and stood his ground, and slashed Bakugo's chest again, making another cut.

"Ah!" Bakugo was surprised. No one had ever taken one of his explosions like that before.

"So your gift is explosions." Zamasu looked down bitterly at his now burnt clothes. "The gods gifted you with such a versatile and potent ability, and yet you use it to torment others! Such blasphemy will not be forgiven!"

"Shut up!" Bakugo was getting even angrier with each word that came out of Zamasu's mouth, and this time he unleashed a full power explosion right at his face.

"Gahhhh!" Zamasu shouted in pain as his face was enveloped in light and smoke.

As the smoke covered Zamasu's face, Bakugo smirked, thinking he had won.

Until-

"Don't look so smug." Zamasu's face emerged from the smoke, and to the surprise of everyone else, he looked mostly unscathed barring a few slight burns on his face.

And then, his body glowed white, and the burns healed themselves almost instantly.

Zamasu smirked with confidence. "My quirk is called ki control, it allows me to do many things. Such as turning my hand into a blade or healing my wounds. Tell me do you still care to fight me?"

"I don't give a shit what your quirk is! Mine is better!" Bakugo shouted definitely, as he prepared to unleash another explosion at the boy, only to get hit by another blast to the face. "Agh! DEKU!"

Zamasu looked behind him and saw Izuku standing up with his palm extended outward, ready to fight.

"I'm not going to let you hurt any more people Kacchan!" Izuku stated.

Zamasu looked at Izuku's determined gaze and found himself intrigued. "Ah, so you are a fellow warrior of the gods. Tell me what is your name?"

"Izuku. Midoriya Izuku." Izuku introduced himself.

"Would you allow me to call you Izuku?" Zamasu asked him politely.

"Uh sure?" Izuku was a bit taken aback. People were rarely so polite with him.

"Well then Izuku, shall we send this villain on his way?" Zamasu turned his attention back to Bakugo.

"I'm not a villain! I'm gonna be the number one hero!" Bakugo stated angrily.

"Heroes do not torment the innocent! A villain claiming to be a hero, they are the worst sinners of all!" Zamasu shouted out with equal amounts of anger.

"He's right! Heroes don't hurt people Kacchan!" Izuku agreed.

"I don't care what you two shitheads have to say, die!" Bakugo lunged at Izuku ready to attack him again, but Zamasu moved in front of him and took the attack instead.

"Zamasu!" Izuku charged up another blast for a few seconds, and let the energy explode at Katsuki's face.

"Ah!" Bakugo held his face, the light from the blast stunning him for a moment.

Zamasu took advantage of this and kicked Bakugo in the face, knocking him to the floor.

"How powerful can you make your energy blast?" Zamasu asked Izuku.

"Um, I don't know? I have to charge it." Izuku said.

"Then make it as powerful as you can," Zamasu said. "I will keep him from attacking you."

"Like hell you are!" Bakugo got back up and tried to attack Zamasu, but Zamasu deflected the boy's arm, causing the explosion to miss.

While Zamasu kept Bakugo at bay, Izuku held his hands together over his head and charged up as much as he could.

_Faster Faster!_ Izuku mentally instructed himself.

A ball of ki gathered in his hands, glowing brighter and brighter as it gained more power.

After about a few more minutes of fighting, Zamasu managed to grab Bakugo and held him still.

"Let go snot rag!" Bakugo struggled, letting off explosions that hit nothing.

"Izuku are you ready!?" Zamasu asked.

"Almost!" Izuku could feel the energy in his attack wanting to be released. _Wait! This attack needs a name! I can't use a special attack without a name."_

After a few more moments Izuku knew he couldn't hold it anymore. And so he said the first thing that came to his mind, something from an anime he had watched.

"Masenko!" Izuku shouted.

A beam of light burst from Izuku's hands, and straight towards Bakugo.

Bakugo could only watch, as the beam hit him right in the stomach.

"Wahhhh!" It felt like someone had thrown a rock really hard at his stomach, and also the rock was on fire.

Zamasu, who was holding Bakugo, stood his ground as the beam pushed against them.

The beam faded away and left Bakugo with a very upset stomach.

"Damn it!" Bakugo growled.

Zamasu let him go, and Bakugo fell on his knees while clutching his stomach, trying not to vomit.

"I think he has been beaten enough," Zamasu said while walking away. "If we beat him any more than that would just be attacking a helpless boy."

"Fuck you!" Bakugo tried to get up and attack them, but he found moving made his stomach turn even more.

"Let us inform you teacher of this shall we?" Zamasu told Izuku.

"I don't know. I think he's had enough." Izuku was hesitant. Part of him still considered Kacchan his friend after all.

"Nonsense!" Zamasu said. "Does he seem like the type of person to give up just because he's been beaten?"

Zamasu pointed at Bakugo, who was still spewing out profanities while trying not to spew out his lunch.

"Ehhh." Izuku didn't think of Bakugo as the kind of person to give up. So if he was doing something bad he might not give up on that either.

"He must be punished! So he can repent for his actions!" Zamasu stated. "Come! Show me to your teacher!"

"O-Ok." Izuku started walking, with Zamasu following suit.

"You didn't win Deku! You're running away! I would have kicked your ass if it was just you! You hear me! DEKU!" Bakugo shouted in outrage.

Izuku looked back at him, a sad look on his face. But Zamasu quickly turned his head forward.

"Don't listen to him," Zamasu told him. "And you said your name was Izuku? So why is he calling you Deku?"

"It's a...it's an insult," Izuku admitted. "Everyone calls me that."

"Ah yes, it means useless. Now I remember." Zamasu glared angrily at nothing in particular. "How disgusting. At this rate, the Hakaishin will destroy us all."

"Hakaishin?" Izuku titled his head in confusion.

"Ah, allow me to enlighten you," Zamasu said.

And that was how the story started. A friendship that would last for years, and a rivalry that would last forever.

But that would not be the only friend Izuku would make before middle school.

A few months later.

"Hiya!" Izuku punched Zamasu's hand, repeating the same motion he had been doing for over an hour now.

"No, you need to pour you, Ki, through your body, let it strengthen you!" Zamasu encouraged him.

Izuku cocked back his fist, and it lit up with yellow Ki, "HA!"

Izuku punched Zamasu's fist again causing a very, very small explosion in Zamasu's palm.

"No not like that. It's like charging a Ki blast but inside you." Zamasu sighed. "Master Whis made this sound so much better."

The two had been practicing for almost two hours. Due to their similar quirks, Izuku had asked Zamasu to teach him what he could about utilizing Ki. They had decided to do this in the forest, as no one would object to them using their quirks there.

Izuku stopped his practice to take a breath, he was sweating profusely due to using his quirk so much and he felt exhausted. "This is hard."

"Indeed, most likely even more so for you as your body lacks my near-infinite stamina." Zamasu sighed. "But it is what we must do in order to reach greatness. In our mission to defend the weak from the filthy sinners that would hurt them, we must never cease our training! It is important that we-"

Before Zamasu could continue on with what was no doubt another long-winded speech filled with words Izuku didn't understand, a loud yell was heard echoing through the forest.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

Izuku and Zamasu's head snapped towards the direction where the noise came from.

"Someone's in trouble!" Izuku got to his feet and started running towards the sound of the cry, with Zamasu following behind.

After about a minute of running, the two reached the source of the noise.

In another clearing, there was a girl facing against three boys. The boys had surrounded her and all four of them looked at least a little banged up, the girl most of all. She had black hair in pig-tails and was wearing plain white overalls.

"Scaredy cats! You say I'm weak but you want to fight three vs one! That's no fair!" The girl shouted at them.

"Shut up you stupid freak!" One of the boys tried to punch her, but the girl caught the punch and started beating on that boy, with the other two boys grabbing her trying to pull her off of him.

"We have to help her!" Izuku told his friend. The two of them were hiding in the bushes so the boys and the girl had not noticed them yet.

"I know that but how?" Zamasu asked. "The last time we fought against bullies my stupid grandfather grounded me."

"So we need to stop them...without fighting." Izuku put his hand to his chin and started thinking. "What if..we scared them off instead?"

"Do you have anything to scare them?" Zamasu asked.

"Yeah! The sword!" Izuku reminded him.

"But that thing is useless." Zamasu pointed out.

"But it doesn't look useless!" Izuku counted.

Zamasu thought about it for a moment. "That might work... let's go."

The two jumped out of the bushes, and Izuku shouted "Hey!"

Suddenly all four of them stopped and looked to their left to see a determined Izuku and an angry Zamasu.

"Cease your actions, sinners! Or else the wrath of the gods shall smite you where you stand!" Zamasu shouted at the boys.

There was a moment of silence as all the boys stared at him in confusion before one of them asked. "What?"

"Stop or we'll beat you up." Izuku simplified.

The three boys glared at them.

"Go away! This quirkless freak punched me first!" One of the boys said.

"Because you spat on my hair!" The girl protested.

"Yeah because you're quirkless!" One of the other boys said.

These comments seemed to make Zamasu even angrier, as his scowl tightened and he started moving towards the bullies, only for Izuku to grab him.

"Stop. You'll get in trouble, remember." Izuku reminded him, before stepping forward. "Let me."

Izuku raised his hand to the sky, as it became enveloped with yellow energy. "Spirit Excalibur!"

Suddenly, a giant yellow energy sword burst from Izuku's hand, easily towering over everyone in the area.

The three bullies stood in awe of the sword, not noticing Izuku sweating heavily, straining to keep it together.

"N-now leave! O-otherwise I-I'll cut you!" Izuku threatened.

It was an empty threat. In truth, the sword was all bark and no bite. He had made it when Zamasu tried to teach him how to make a Ki blade-like his, Izuku put too much energy into the blade, causing this to happen. The sheer amount of Ki needed to make it that big meant that it didn't have any actual power or stability behind it, so it would fall apart the minute it touched something. And of course, using that much energy was exhausting to Izuku.

However, the bullies didn't know this and in the face of a giant laser sword, they decided to turn tail and run away. Leaving only the girl.

"GrrraH!" Izuku grunted as he dispelled the sword, he nearly collapsed from how tired he was, but Zamasu caught him before he could hit the floor.

"Thanks, Zachan." Izuku thanked his friend.

"Ugh, how many times must I tell you to stop calling me that." Zamasu groaned at his nickname.

Meanwhile, the girl picked herself up and dusted off her clothes before glaring at the two boys. "I didn't need help. I'm not weak!"

Zamasu seemed shocked by her response for a moment, before quickly returning the glare. "I believe you're supposed to say, thank you. Regardless of how strong you are, it was three against one."

"I don't know Zachan," Izuku told his friend, getting back to his feet. "She was doing pretty well."

"That's because those three fought like idiots," Zamasu explained. "If they knew how to fight then you'd have been losing."

"But they didn't." Said both the girl and Izuku at the same time. Causing the two to stare at each other for a moment.

"Hmph. Well, at least your friend is smart." The black-haired girl said. "My name's Videl Satan. The worlds soon to be first quirkless hero!"

The mention of the word, hero, seemed to put the energy back into Izuku, as he dashed towards the girl stopping right in front of her face. "You want to be a hero too!? Wait your name, Satan? Like Mr. Satan!? The wrestler!?"

"Yeah, he's my dad," Videl explained, taken aback a little by his sudden enthusiasm.

"COOOOLLLL!" Izuku gushed. "And you wanna be a hero?! Are you gonna use his moves!? Like the dynamite kick? Or the rolling punch!?"

"Ugh, wrestling." Zamasu groaned in disgust.

Videl glared at the green boy. "What's wrong with wrestling?"

"It's all fake," Zamasu explained.

"No, it's not!" Videl argued, her face getting red with anger. "Take that back."

"I will not take back the truth." Zamasu crossed his arms stubbornly. "It's fake and barbaric."

"I don't know what that means but I know it's bad so take it back!" Videl seemed ready to march up and punch Zamasu in the face at any moment.

"But I like wrestling." Izuku pouted.

Zamasu looked at his friend and at Videl and at Izuku, seeing that he upset both of them, and sighed while rolling his eyes. "Fine. I will take it back. Even if I'm right. My name is Zamasu Kai."

"And my name's Izuku Midoriya!" Izuku introduced himself. "Nice to meet you!"

Videl was about to say something snarky when she suddenly realized something. "Hey, you didn't call me stupid for saying I wanted to a quirkless hero."

So far everyone but her dad had called her stupid or crazy for wanting to be a hero after being diagnosed as quirkless. But these two didn't. Izuku had even seemed excited about it.

"Why would we say something that mean!?" Izuku asked.

"Just because you're quirkless doesn't mean you can't be a hero," Zamasu said firmly. "Quirks are gifts given by the gods. If you don't have one the gods don't think you need one to succeed."

Videl was taken aback by their response, completely unused to positive comments from anyone but her father. "Y-you really think I can be a hero?"

"Of course/Yes!" Izuku and Zamasu said at the same time.

Videl paused for a moment before smiling at the two of them. "Then I forgive you for calling wrestling fake. I think we can be great friends."

Zamasu looked at Izuku who was smiling eagerly and sighed. _Well, I guess I have no choice.  
_

And thus the trio was born! What will happen next? Tune in next time on, The Strongest of Them All!


	2. Episode 2: Fated Encounter

_That fight earlier was so cool! I wonder if I could learn techniques similar to those heroes?_

"Midoriya."

_Well, I can already enhance my strength like Death Arms. It's not anywhere near as powerful but I can do it.  
_

"Midoriya."

_Could I use Ki to make me bigger? I think I'd rip myself apart or explode if I tried._

"Midoriya!"

_Maybe I could make Ki constructs that could wrap around people and trap them! No, they wouldn't hold up very long. I'd be better off using Solar Flare._

"DEKU! SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

"Wha?" Izuku snapped out of his thoughts and realized where he was. In the middle of class, with everyone staring at him. And Bakugo glaring at him like he wanted him dead...wait, that was normal.

"Midoriya, please refrain from muttering." The teacher said in exasperation. "And please pay attention."

"S-sorry." Izuku's face went red from embarrassment after realizing he said all of that out loud.

The teacher coughed to gain everyone's attention. "As I was saying-"

**RINGGGGGGG!**

The teacher sighed as the bell rang. "Nevermind, you're dismissed."

With that, the students, and the teacher, all fled out of the room. Leaving only Bakugo and Izuku behind.

"We're not done here Deku!" Bakugo walked up to Izuku's desk and exploded it a bit. Something Izuku was so used to that he didn't even flinch.

"Actually Kacchan I have training soon so I need to leave as soon as possible." Izuku tried to reason with his "friend" but he saw he wasn't in the letting him go mood. Nor was he ever.

"You're not going anywhere Deku! Why the hell are you applying for U.A.!" Bakugo barked at him, as Izuku backed towards the window. "I'm the only one from this piece of shit school getting into U.A.! Don't you dare mess up my origin story!"

"You know that's not how it works Kacchan." Izuku lightly scolded his friend while he backed up to the window's ledge. "You need to be less selfish, Kacchan. It'll help you in the future. Anyway, I gotta go! Bye!"

Suddenly Izuku jumped out the window and put both his hands down. "Double Sunday!"

Two beams came from Izuku's hands, hitting the ground and slowing his fall. After a few seconds, he reached the ground, and dissipated the beams, before running away from the school.

"DEKU! GET BACK HERE!" Bakugo shouted from the window.

"Sorry Kacchan but Whis-sensei would be very mad if I'm late!" Izuku shouted to the explodo boy. "I'll fight you later! I promise!"

Izuku kept running until he reached the gates, where Zamasu and Videl were waiting for him.

"About time you got here," Videl said as they all started walking. "We're gonna be late!"

"Sorry! Kacchan held me up!" Izuku apologized.

"Ugh. Did that brute challenge you to yet another fight?" Zamasu asked him.

"No, he tried to tell me not to apply to U.A." Izuku explained. "Again."

"Ugh, can't we just beat the crap out of him or something." Videl groaned. "Zachan you're mega-rich. Make him disappear."

Zamasu rolled his eyes. "Despite what the media would have you believe, that is not how the wealthy handle things. Grandfather may be old and senile but he's not evil."

"You really shouldn't talk about Gowasu like that. He may not want you to be a hero but he's still helping you do it." Izuku said.

"Easy to say when you don't have to live with him," Zamasu replied. "How about you stay in my house for a year and listen to his passive-aggressive comments in his condescending voice and we'll see how your view of him holds."

"Considering he still calls Bakugo a friend, I don't think that will do much." Videl laughed. "And I already know what it's like to have people like that. It's called literally everyone in my life. Except they're less passive-aggressive and more just aggressive."

Zamasu gave her a pitiful look. "Are those discriminatory sinners still verbally assaulting you?"

"What do you think," Videl replied, as they all knew the answer was yes.

"Don't worry! Once you get into U.A. no one will question if you can be a hero or not!" Izuku reassured her.

Videl sighed. "Honestly I'm not even sure I can get in. Apparently, I have to fight freaking robots. How am I supposed to fight robots!?"

Izuku and Zamasu didn't respond. They couldn't just tell her to punch through robots. Even if she could(which depending on how strong the robots were, she could do.) that would likely hurt her hands to the point where she would break them before getting enough points.

"U.A.'s entrance exam is very flawed, but look on the bright side, you could always get in by performing well in the Tournament of Power," Zamasu suggested. "Do not give up. It's not like you."

Videl sighed. "Yeah I know, it's just...I wish I could hear someone other than my dad and you two say I could do it. Someone with, you know, experience. Like an actual hero."

As the three of them walked past a bridge, suddenly, a man-hole cover slid off.

All three of them stopped at the sound of the cover sliding against the street and turned to see what was making the sound.

Suddenly a green sludge climbed out of the sewer, growing and growing until it towered over the trio. And then a face, a mouth, and two eyes emerged. Two eyes were looking right at them.

"Ah, three invisibility cloaks. I only need one." The sludge man said, before looking right at Izuku. "Ah, that one will do."

The villain dove at Izuku, but Izuku managed to jump back and avoid the villain's lunge.

"A villain!?" Videl shouted.

"And a disgusting one at that!" Zamasu glared at the sludge man.

"Eh!? Stop dodging!" The villain shouted as he extended and tended towards Izuku, wrapping it around his foot.

"Ah!" Izuku fell down and the villain started dragging him towards him.

Izuku gathered up Ki in his hand, and formed a Ki blade, it was a bit longer and a bit less powerful than Zamasu's but it would do. Hopefully.

He cut the tendril off of him, freeing him from the villain's grasp.

"Stop fighting back!" The villain yelled as it sent out all of itself towards Izuku.

Izuku tried to dodge but he didn't make it in time, and the slime villain wrapped itself around him.

"Izuku!" Cried Zamasu and Videl, as they ran toward the villain.

"Don't worry, this won't hurt, for long." The slime villain's tendrils went towards Izuku's face ready to crawl inside him.

"Ha! HAHHHHHHHHHH!" Izuku shouted at the top of his lungs, in a fit of desperation, used a full power Ki burst. A Ki burst was a pressurized force pushed out of the body on all sides using Ki. It didn't do much damage but it was great for pushing people off of you.

The villain's slimy body was pushed back, and off of Izuku for a moment, however, this only bought Izuku a few seconds, as the villain quickly grabbed Izuku once more.

"You little brat just die already!" The villain was getting annoyed, this wasn't supposed to take this long.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Izuku screamed as he fired off another full power Ki burst, pushing the villain off of him for a few seconds.

 _Damn it I can't keep doing this! If I keep using that much power I'll use up all my stamina! But if I don't then I can't keep him off of me!_ Izuku thought as he kept using Ki burst.

Meanwhile, Zamasu and Videl were doing what they could to try and free him. With Videl trying to grab onto the villain and Zamasu trying to cut him, but neither of them were doing anything.

 _Damn it this isn't working!_ Zamasu thought as he kept trying to stop the villain. _If this keeps up! Izuku's going to die!_

Izuku was quickly running out of stamina, and his last Ki burst wasn't as powerful as the others, and his next one after that was even weaker, not pushing the villain away at all.

"End of the line kid!" The villain said, as he finally prepared to take Izuku's body.

And then.

"Never fear! Why? Because I am here!"

Everyone froze, as they heard that ever so familiar voice.

Before they could even look in the direction of the voice, something dashed through the slime villain and grabbed Izuku, Zamasu, and Videl.

The three blinked in shock, as they had been moved away from the villain so fast, that they didn't even see it.

Izuku was the most shocked because he was free, and in the arms of the number 1 hero, his hero. All Might.

"Ahahaha!" All Might laughed as he placed down the stunned Izuku. "Don't worry citizens! I have come at last!"

"ALL MIGHT!" Shouted all three kids at once.

"That's right!" All Might's smile glowed in the sunlight. "Sorry that you three got caught up in the chase! But thank you for keeping the villain in place. Now."

All Might turned around and saw that the villain was once again attempting to flee. But it was in vain.

"Texas!" All Might cock back his fist. "SMASH!"

All Might punched the air, causing a massive blast of air to rush towards the villain, hitting him dead on, and splattering him across the tunnel.

As the winds died down, the trio stood in shock and awe of All Might's power.

 _I've seen it on T.V._ Videl thought. _But in person-_

 _That power is unreal. Truly this man must be loved by the gods._ Zamasu thought.

"So cool! All Might is the best!" Izuku said out loud.

"Ahaha!" All Might laughed, before pulling out two bottles. "Now to capture him."

All three of them looked at him in confusion. "Huh?"

Sometime later.

"And done!" All Might's smile gleamed as he held up the two bottles containing the captured villain.

"Uh...All Might?" Videl spoke up.

"Are you sure...that will contain him?" Zamasu asked.

"Of course I am." All Might said putting the bottles in his pockets.

"All Might it is such an honor to meet you I'm your biggest fan can I have your autograph!" Izuku said without taking a breath and brought out one of his notebooks.

"Of course!" All Might picked it up and signed it with practiced speed. "Here you go."

"WOW!" Izuku took the notebook and looked at it like it was the most amazing thing in the world. "I'll cherish it forever! It'll be a family heirloom!"

"All Might it truly is an honor to meet a man such as yourself," Zamasu said. "You do the god's work."

"You are so cool." Videl gushed.

"Well thank you all for your kind words! I couldn't do this without your support!" All Might said his rehearsed lines, as he prepared to leap away. "Now, if you excuse me, I have to get this villain to a police station."

As All Might was preparing to leap away, Izuku suddenly remembered something.

_I wish I could hear someone other than my dad and you two say I could do it. Someone with, you know, experience. Like an actual hero._

Videl's words echoed in his mind, and he reached out to stop All Might.

Just as he grabbed onto him, All Might leaped.

Zamasu and Videl blinked in pure disbelief.

"Did Izuku just…" Videl asked.

"Grab onto All Might as he leaped into the sky?" Zamasu responded. "Yes. I believe he did."

Meanwhile, All Might had just noticed Izuku attached to his pant leg as well.

"What the hell are you doing kid!? This enthusiasm is a bit too much!" All Might told as he tried to shake him off. "Let go!"

"Wait! I don't have enough energy left to slow my fall! If I let go I'll almost definitely die!" Izuku pointed out.

"Oh right." All Might stopped trying to shake him off. "Well hold on! And close your eyes and mouth! I'm going to land on the nearest building!"

"Ok!" Izuku did as instructed.

As All Might looked for a place to land, blood seeped from his mouth. _Shit._

A few moments later.

After landing on a nearby rooftop, Izuku took a moment to recover from his impromptu human rollercoaster ride.

"That was a dumb idea kid, you could have gotten yourself seriously hurt." All Might scolded him. "Now wait here. Someone should come and get you eventually."

"Wait!" Izuku called out to him. "I have a really important question to ask you."

"I'm sorry I don't have time!" Steam was coming off of All Might, he needed to get out of here before his cover was blown.

"Can a quirkless person be a hero?" Izuku asked him.

All Might froze. "What?"

"Ah, you see my friend back there, Videl. She's quirkless and she wants to be a hero. Right now she's kind of doubting herself so I'd really like it if you could...reassure...her…" Izuku slowed down his speech as he noticed more and more steam coming off of All Might. "All Might?"

 _Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!_ All Might thought as the steam covered him, and he started to shrink. _Crap! Crap!_

In a matter of moments, the steam cleared, and All Might was reduced to a skeleton-like man.

"AH! An imposter!?" Izuku was confused. _What happened to All Might! Who is this!?"_

"I am All Mig-blah!" All Might tried to tell him before spitting up blood.

"Oh my god, are you ok!?" Izuku asked the clearly injured man.

All Might sighed.

One explanation later.

"And now I can only be the symbol of peace for three hours a day." All Might explained after showing his wound.

Izuku was, once again, stunned. "Wow. I can't believe it. Some villains are that strong. Strong enough to hurt All Might like this."

"Right." All Might said. "And that's why...that's why I can't in good conscience say that your friend can be a hero. I'm sorry."

There was a long pause between the two. All Might was about to suggest that he advise his friend to become a police officer, but Izuku spoke first.

"I think...you're wrong," Izuku said simply.

All Might gave the boy a surprised look. He had thought he might defend his friend. But he expected him to be more...passionate about it. Angry or sad or something. Instead, it was like he was stating a fact or presenting an argument.

"I mean...I don't think she could take down people like Toxic Chainsaw. But not all villains are that strong." Izuku stated. "Most of them aren't. Maybe she can't take down big S-rank villains who are threatening to destroy the city, but she could take D or C or maybe even B rank villains who just try to kill people."

"That is...true. And you make a good point." All Might admitted. "But still, a villain like Toxic Chainsaw could attack at any time. And a hero must always respond to a villain attack. In that situation, I can't see how a quirkless hero could help."

"What about evacuating civilians?" Izuku asked. "O-or spotting a villain's weak points? Or tending to injured heroes? Or maybe forming a plan to defeat the villain. Or…"

Izuku looked like he was about to continue when he suddenly had an epiphany.

"I think…I know the problem here," Izuku said. "Your thinking...like how I used to think."

Flashback, eight years ago. At the Kai training grounds.

"HA!" Izuku shouted as he fired off a huge blast of Ki at a dummy.

The blue blast covered the dummy entirely, and when the blast died down, the dummy was mostly destroyed.

Izuku was exhausted, panting heavily just trying to get oxygen into his lungs as his legs tried to not to collapse.

"Hmm. I think I see the problem here."

Izuku looked up at his mentor, Whis-sensei.

"P-problem?" Izuku asked.

"Yes, Izuku. The problem." Whis said. "In the time it would have taken you to charge that blast, that dummy if it were a real villain, would have killed you tenfold. And even if he didn't, the other dummies, had they been real villains, would have killed you in your exposed state."

Izuku sulked. "B-but then what do I do? That's the only way I can take him out in one blast."

"And that's the problem. You're trying to overpower your opponents despite your obvious lack of power." Whis pointed out. "Tell me Izuku, what kind of hero do you want to be?"

"I want to be like All Might!" Izuku answered immediately.

"Exactly," Whis said. "That's exactly the issue. You're trying to inmate All Might. But Izuku, your not All Might, nor will you ever be."

Izuku wilted heavily at that comment. All his life he wanted to be like All Might, so hearing he couldn't...it was very disheartening.

"But that doesn't mean you can't become the number one hero," Whis said, making Izuku perk up a bit. "But you can't do it in the same way that All Might does. You can't punch so hard the clouds part from the sky, you can't run faster than a rocket, and you can't get hit by a collapsing building and get up just fine. If you want to succeed you'll have to rely on what YOU can do. Use the versatility of your Ki manipulation to make up for the lack of power."

Whis turned his attention back towards the dummies. "In this situation, it would have been better to let out a barrage of smaller ki blasts, allowing you to get in close and take them out with your fist. It's not as flashy or impressive as All Might, but it is effective, and it is within your capabilities."

Izuku looked at the dummies, before looking down at his hands, and feeling the Ki flowing through him. He realized Whis was right. After just one big blast he could barely fight. If he wanted to be the number one hero, he had to be smarter about how he used his energy.

"Yes, Sensei!" Izuku said. "I understand."

Whis smiled. "Very good. Now, let's take a break. Can't train on an empty stomach can we?"

Back to the present.

"I want to be the number one hero. Just like you. I want people to see my shining smile, and feel safe." Izuku explained. "My quirk lets me manipulate ki, but it's pretty weak. But I still tried to copy you when I was a kid, and it didn't turn out well. But Whis sensei me that power isn't everything. That's why I think that even if she can't do what do, I think she can still be a hero. And do what she can."

All Might paused, thinking over what the young man said. _Is that true? Had I become so blinded by power that I forgot how capable people can be?_

There was a long pause as All Might thought it over, and Izuku waited for his response.

"Perhaps." All Might eventually said. "Your right. Maybe a quirkless hero is possible."

Izuku perked up and smiled brightly. "Really! You think you could tell her that!?"

All Might looked at him. "What's your name?"

"Izuku Midoriya!" Izuku answered. "Uh, do you t-think you could tell Videl she can be a hero?"

"Maybe some other time." All Might said as he turned to leave. "For now I need to get this villain to the-"

All Might froze as he felt his pockets, trying to grab the bottle the villain was being held in.

Only to find it wasn't there.

**KABOOM!**

An explosion went off in the distance, and Izuku and All Might fought the same thing.

_Oh no!_

A few minutes later.

Both All Might and Izuku struggled for breath as they ran right towards the source of the explosion.

The sludge villain had gotten free and had taken another hostage.

Bakugo.

The spiky-haired boy was trying to free himself by wildly letting off explosions, but all that did was set the surrounding area on fire.

The heroes were already on the scene. But they were struggling to stop the crisis. Some were trying to stop and rescue people from the fire, while others were looking up at the villain, their quirks powerless to do anything against its liquid body.

 _Him? But how!? All Might...wait!_ Dread coursed through Izuku, as the realization of what he had done sunk in. _The bottles must have fallen out of All Might's pockets when I grabbed him! All this...is my fault!_

After a quick round of shaming himself, he looked around. All the heroes were standing by, waiting for backup that might take too long to come. And All Might was looking at the whole mess with fear and dread in his eyes, while he clutched his injury. He'd used up all his time for the day.

The situation was clear, and Izuku knew what he had to do.

"Ka. Me." Izuku brought his hands back and started charging up energy as a blue ball of ki floated between his palms. "Ha. Me."

Izuku rushed through the crowd, bursting into the combat zone and rushing past the heroes. He pumped Ki through his body, using a technique known as spirit body boost. This technique made the user physically stronger, faster, and more durable, by using ki to enhance themselves. It was a rather easy to use technique that wasn't very taxing once the user got used to it, but even still with the amount of energy Izuku and used earlier, it was difficult to maintain right now.

"Hey kid stop!" shouted the heroes.

"Someone stop him!" Shouted one of the civilians.

But not one moved to halt his progress towards the villain.

"Ha. Me!" Izuku felt his heartbeat fast, sweat poured down his face. He had already used so much energy today. And now he was pouring the last of his power into one attack.

"Gah! This brat!" The sludge villain saw Izuku coming at him. "Die!"

The villain sent out one of his tendrils at Izuku, intent on killing him.

Izuku stopped and brought his hands out in front of him, bringing his palms together, aiming the ball of ki at the villain. "HA!"

The ball of ki burst out into a beam, hitting the villain's attack head-on, and destroying its tendril in an instant.

The beam pushed on through and headed right towards the villain's face.

"Wa! AHHHHHHHHH!" The villain shouted in pain as he got a face full of Ki, burning his eyes and mouth while at the same time pushing him back.

The villain's grip on Bakugo weakened, which didn't go unnoticed by the blond.

Bakugo exploded the villain's body off his arms, before exploding his own face, destroying the sludge that had been drowning him.

Katsuki took a deep breath, as he finally got air into his lungs.

Izuku, meanwhile, had run out of energy. The Kamehameha dissipated, and the monkey tailed teen fell to the ground.

 _At least I...bought him a little time._ Izuku thought as black spots formed in his vision.

"Damn it Deku!" Bakugo shouted. "I didn't need your help!"

**KABOOM!**

Bakugo exploded the sludge around him, finally blasting the villain off of him.

He fell to the ground on his knees. His arms hurt from all the panicked explosions he'd been letting off. And he was tired from all the thrashing around.

The villain, however, recovered quickly, reforming himself and looming over the two tired teens.

"You kids! Why won't you just die!" The villain lunged at them once, more intent on taking Bakugo and killing Izuku.

But All Might had other plans.

His mouth blasting out blood, All Might charged in and grabbed the two of them, putting them behind him.

"Detroit!" All Might shouted as he cocked back his fist, putting every last bit of power he had left into his fist.

"All Might!" The sludge villain shouted out in rage.

"SMASH!" All Might shouted.

The hero uppercut the villain, causing a powerful whirlwind to form, blasting the villain apart and throwing him into the sky, immediately rendering him unconscious.

When the winds died down, pieces of the villain fell down like raindrops.

All Might heard the crowd cheer, but his attention was focused on Izuku. _Midoriya. Thank you._

 _All Might...he was out of time._ Izuku smiled exhaustedly. _He must have pushed himself...to save us...he really is...the greatest hero._

And with that, he fell into unconsciousness.

Sometime later.

The next time Izuku woke up would be in the hospital. The ki exhaustion had caused him to pass out. Knocking him out for about a day and a half.

His mother had of course been the first one to see him. She cried, reassured, and scolded him all at the same time.

Apparently, All Might had asked he be pardoned from any vigilante accusations so at least there wouldn't be any consequences for his actions.

Zamasu and Videl of course came and scolded him as well. Both being very thankful that he was alive.

Whis had surprisingly also come to visit him, of course admonishing him for his actions while also praising him for aiming at the villain's one true weak spot.

And even more surprisingly, Bakugo had visited him. It was a short visit that consisted mostly of him belittling and insulting Izuku like normal, but he did at least tell him to get better...ok he told him to get better so he could beat the shit out of him, but still, it was one of the nicer things he'd said to him in recent times. And his insults lacked their usual bite.

However, none of those surprises would compare the one he got a few hours before he was discharged.

As Izuku was sitting in his hospital bed, waiting for the doctor to come and tell him he could leave.

But when the door opened, it wasn't the doctor that came in. It was All Might. In his skinny form.

"A-All migt-" Before Izuku could finish his sentence All Might shushed him.

"Keep it down! My identity is a secret, remember!" All Might reminded him.

"R-Right. Sorry." Izuku apologized.

"Just call me Mr. Yagi for now." All Might saw Izuku's mouth open. "Yes, that is my real last name."

"I know All Might's last name," Izuku whispered in awe with eyes as wide as dinner plates. "So cool!"

All Might shook his head, smiling amusedly at the fanboy's enthusiasm, before remembering what he was here for. "Young Midoriya. I came here to thank you."

Just when All Might thought Izuku couldn't look any more bewildered, he proved his wrong. "Me!? Y-you came here to thank me!?"

"That's right." All Might nodded. "When you rushed in, it inspired me young Midoriya. Seeing someone who had nearly exhausted themselves already, run in without a second thought and push themselves past their limit to save someone. It reminded me why I became a hero. And pushed me to do the same."

Izuku was speechless. All Might was...was complimenting him! THE All Might!

"But-but-but-but I-I'm the one w-who freed him!" Izuku tried to compose himself the best he could. "It was my fault!"

All Might shook his head. "No. If anything it was my fault. I shouldn't have tried to hold him in such a flimsy plastic bottle."

Izuku was speechless once again. He still couldn't believe his ears. There was nothing that could make this even more unbelievable.

"Your actions there, and your words on the rooftop have convinced me." All Might looked at him eye to eye. "Izuku Midoriya. You are worthy of inheriting my quirk."

Nevermind. It could get more unbelievable.

What would happen next? How will Izuku handle being the successor to All Might himself!? And how will this new power affect Izuku and his quirk?

Find out next time. On Strongest of Them All!


	3. Episode 3: Testing Time

Izuku stared at the gates of U.A. with the wonder and awe you'd expect from a child.

"We're really here," Izuku whispered in amazement. "We're at U.A."

"For now. We still actually have to pass the test first." Videl reminded him. "Which we can't do if you spend all day marveling at the gate."

"Yes, we had best not be late. A first impression is a long-lasting one." Zamasu told him, as all three of them walked in.

"I know but-but it's just...we've spent our entire lives preparing for today," Izuku said. "And...it's here. It's finally here. It's-Woah!"

Izuku had been so in the moment, and so not paying attention, he tripped as he was walking.

Before he could fall face-first onto the floor, however, he suddenly just...stopped. In mid-air.

"Huh?" Izuku blinked in confusion. He felt...weightless. Like gravity just stopped working on him.

Zamasu and Videl were also confused for a moment, before looking behind them to see a brown-haired girl standing there.

"Sorry I used my quirk without asking." The girl said, moving Izuku upright and then tapping her finger together, releasing him from the effects of her quirk. "I thought I'd be bad luck if you tripped and fell."

"Oh-uh it's fine!" Izuku said, his face turning a little red. "T-thanks for stopping me from tripping."

"Yes, it was most kind of you." Zamasu praised the girl. "May I ask your name?"

"It's Uraraka. Ochaco Uraraka." She introduced herself.

"My name is Zamasu Kai. Please call me Zamasu." Zamasu turned to his friends. "The girl over there is Videl and the airhead you stopped from falling is Izuku Midoriya."

"Hey!" Izuku whined. Their antics causing Ochaco to giggle a little.

"Thanks for keeping monkey boy from falling, but we should all probably get going now," Videl said.

"Ah, your right! Hope you pass!" Ochaco said as she waved them goodbye.

"S-same to you!" Izuku called out.

Once Ochaco was gone, Zamasu and Videl turned to Izuku.

"Mind telling us why you turned into a blushing mess their pal?" Videl teased.

"Yes I know you can be rather shy at times but that was almost pathetic," Zamasu said.

"I-I'm just not used to talking to girls...besides Videl." Izuku corrected himself.

"Well that explains it, he's spent so long with you Videl that he's forgotten what attractive girls look like." Zamasu ribbed with his shit-eating, cocky smirk.

Videl rolled her eyes. "I'd be so offended if I gave a shit."

The three stopped their banter, as they arrived at the building.

It loomed over them. Reminding them that today would change their lives.

Zamasu looked at his two friends, both nervous, and put his hands on their shoulders. "We will succeed."

The two looked at him for a moment, before nodding, the fear in their eyes was replaced with pure determination.

"Right!"

Sometime later.

The written exam went smoothly. Whis had taught them the importance of strengthening the mind as well as the body. And had made them spend many afternoons studying. So they were more than prepared for it.

Now they were entering the auditorium, all three sitting next to each other listening to Present Mic explain the exam.

"Oh my god, it's Present Mic!" Izuku had immediately gone into a muttering storm when he saw the hero.

"Shut up Deku!" Bakugo, who was sitting next to them as well, growled at him.

Zamasu and Videl simply ignored it, as they were too used to Izuku's muttering to care.

That was not the case for everyone, however.

A blue-haired boy suddenly raised his hand and started questioning what the hero had been saying due to a perceived error.

And once he was done with that, he called out Izuku.

"You there, with the tail! You've been muttering this entire time! It is very distracting! If you are not going to take this seriously then leave!" The boy told Izuku.

Izuku just blushed, embarrassed at having been called out, and muttered some apologies.

His friends, on the other hand, did not take this so lightly.

"Excuse me, but his muttering is barely even audible. If you were truly paying attention, you should not have even heard it from where you're sitting." Zamasu scowled at the boy. "And also, what right do you have to yell about distraction! You're the one stopping Present Mic from explaining the rest of the exam, and you have the gall to question your elders in such a disrespectful fashion! If you truly wish for there to be no distractions, then sit down, stop thinking you know better than the professionals, and stop bringing attention to such minor things!"

The boy recoiled back as if Zamasu's words had physically hit him. However, he realized that he was right. Right now he was the biggest dictation to everyone.

"No! He's right! Deku's muttering is fucking annoying and he should shut the fuck up!" Bakugo shouted at Zamasu.

The green boy turned his attention to his most hated rival. "Of course YOU would say that. You find his very existence as infuriating as I find yours repulsive."

"The fuck did you say Snot Face!" Bakugo growled at Zamasu, letting explosions dance on his plams for intimidation.

"Do not use your quirk in here! And tone down your language!" The boy suddenly shouted at Bakugo, chopping the air fiercely.

"Huh!? I'm defending you asshole!" Bakugo shouted at the boy.

"As if anyone would want to be defended by you." Zamasu laughed at Bakugo. "That is why you would be such a terrible hero. At the first sight of you, people would start to flee towards the villain in fear. And in all honesty, the villain would probably do a better job protecting them."

"And would probably be nicer to look at too!" Videl joined in

"I'll fucking kill you Snot Face! You too you useless bitch!" Bakugo seemed ready to lunge at Zamasu.

Zamasu and Videl seemed almost just as ready to fight. "I'd like to see you try Blasphemer!"

"There will be no fighting here!" The boy shouted.

"EVERYBODY SHUT UPPPPPPPP!" Present Mic shouted, using his quirk a little to really silence everyone else.

Once the room had fully fallen silent and attention was back on him, Mic continued. "You four. Sit down and shut up before I kick you all out!"

The three boys and Videl looked at each other for a moment, before begrudging sitting back down. Allowing Present Mic to continue his explanation.

Sometime later.

"You shouldn't have done that Zachan." Izuku scolded his friend.

The two of them were now waiting with the other students for the test to begin. Videl was in a separate testing area away from the two of them.

"I let my anger take hold of me. For that, I will apologize." Zamasu said. "That boy simply infuriates me. I pray to the gods he does not pass."

"Zachan! If you keep saying angry, spiteful things like that, then you'll end up just like Kacchan! And then you'll make someone else angry and spiteful, and they'll end up like Kacchan too! It'll be an infinite cycle of Kacchans!" Izuku joked.

Zamasu grimaced. "I don't know what disgusts me more. The idea of becoming like the mongrel or the thought of there being more than one of him."

As the two bantered, they spotted Ochaco warming herself up.

"My, my what a coincidence. It's that girl you're so fond of." Zamasu teased, causing Izuku to turn red. "You should talk to her."

"Wha?! B-but-but she looks like she's trying to concentrate." Izuku pointed out.

"Izuku, the tension in here is absolutely palpable. I could cut it with my ki." Zamasu said. "I'm sure she wouldn't mind the conversation, if only for the sake of relieving the stress. And gods know you could use more friends. Especially if Videl does not make it in."

Izuku looked at Zamasu with a mix of shock and slight betrayal. As if even implying Videl might fail was treason to their friendship.

Zamasu returned Izuku's expression with his own, saddened one. "Izuku. We must face the facts. Videl's only saving grace is her skill. And this is not a test of skill. This is a test of speed and power. Two things that Videl lacks in comparison to those with quirks. I believe she could destroy a few robots. But not enough. And we also must consider the competition. U.A. is the best hero school in the world. So the best of the best are going to try and pass as well. In the end, we must concede that Videl's chances here are low. Very low."

Izuku frowned, looking at the floor frustratedly. "That...that's not fair."

"It's not. U.A.'s entrance exam is practically rigged against those whose quirks are non-conventionally heroic." Zamasu scowled. "It is something U.A. has gotten much criticism for. That's why students outside the hero course are allowed to compete in the Tournament of Power, and possibly become part of the hero course that way. Right now there is nothing we can do about it."

There was a small pause as an air of sadness hung over the two before Zamasu eventually spoke again. "Speak to the girl, you need friends."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Izuku responded nervously.

Zamasu scoffed. "You really should learn no to question me. Especially considering how grateful you should be that I refused a recommendation so we could do this test together."

"Actually I have a question about that. How did you know we'd be in the same testing area for us to work together?" Izuku asked.

"Simple. We know that U.A. separates people from the same school into different zones, which is why Videl is not here as she went to your school. However seeing as I went to a different school, this does not affect me. And given that these tests take place in fake cities and are extremely large, they can only have a small number of separate testing zones. Meaning that the odds of us being in the same area are high." Zamasu explained.

"But what if we didn't get put in the same area?" Izuku asked.

"Well, then this test would have gotten far more tedious," Zamasu replied. "After all, I'm guaranteed to pass with flying colors. And I have faith you would not fail. Now about-"

"You two!" Shouted a familiar voice.

The two looked and saw the blue-haired boy from earlier staring at them.

"Ugh. By Zeno, you're here too?" Zamasu glared at him. "The gods must be punishing me for my outburst earlier."

"I heard you two were planning on working together!" The boy chopped the air as he spoke. "That is against the rules! If you do not desist in your cheating that I will inform the teachers!"

Zamasu laughed. "Ha! It appears you are as simple-minded as you first seemed. That is a mere misconception. If you had actually paid attention while Present Mic was speaking and not looking for flaws to call out to make yourself seem smarter, then you would have noticed that he never said working together wasn't allowed. U.A. simply made it very, very difficult. Firstly be separating people from the same schools, meaning it's unlikely anyone would be around someone they are acquainted with. And secondly, by making it so only the person who destroyed the robot gets the points. By doing that it means that each person working together has to be aware of how much points they are both getting and assures that one person can not ride off the success of another. Under these conditions, a partnership would be detrimental, if the people participating in said partnership could equally pull their own weight, and work well together. And lastly, if after the test you get in and they find you can't perform well without someone assisting you at all time, you will simply be expelled."

"I...see." The boy seemed shocked by this revelation, as did more than a few of the people around them. "Well then-"

"AND GO!" Present Mic's voice suddenly rang over the speakers and the doors opened up to the testing site, signaling the start of the test. "What were you expecting a countdown! There are no countdowns in real life! Now go!"

With that everyone rushed out, and with their enhanced speed managed to get past most of the others.

Izuku and Zamasu rushed through the fake city, quickly spotting some villain bots, a two-pointer, and a three-pointer.

"I'll go for the three-pointer you go for the two-pointer," Zamasu said with Izuku nodding in response.

Izuku ran towards and the scorpion-like robot, he jumped at while forming a ki blade in his hand, before cutting through the robot's neck and loping off its head.

Zamasu charged at the three-pointer and stabbed it in the head with his Ki blade.

**BOOM!**

Zamasu surged ki through his hand, and let it explode inside of the three-pointer, destroying most of its head.

While Zamasu couldn't shoot ki blasts like Izuku, but he could gather up Ki in his hand, and let it explode out in a burst of power.

Zamasu removed his hand from the robot's remains and the two continued to run through the city.

They found three one point robots roaming through, and Izuku sent out a few weak ki blasts to get their attention.

This worked, the ki blast bounced off the robots, not doing much of anything to them, but getting them to focus on the pair.

The three robots charged at the two of them, only for two of the robots to get cut down by Zamasu's ki blade as he zoomed past them.

Zamasu kicked the last robot towards Izuku, not leaving it mostly intact so Izuku could get the point.

Izuku pointed two fingers at the robot and shouted. "Dodon ray!"

A very small beam of ki shot out of Izuku's fingers and tore right through the robot's torso.

The Dodon ray was a technique designed to make up for Izuku's lack of power. With a small more focused beam, he could pierce through his enemies.

With those robots destroyed the two moved on.

As they continued they lucked out and found two three-pointers, a two-pointer, and a one-pointer gathered around an injured kid.

"Izuku take them all out. I will gather their attention." Zamasu ordered, charging towards the robots. "You! Look upon your better and come before me!"

Zamasu's words had successfully gained the attention of the robots, who all started moving towards him.

Izuku brought his hands back and started charging up energy "Ka. Me. Ha. Me."

As Zamasu and the robots got closer, Zamasu leaped at the two pointed, cutting off its head before leap off its body into the air. "Now!"

"HA!" Izuku shouted as he released his attack out at the three remaining robots.

The three villain bots were consumed, the beam, but while it was hurting them, it didn't seem to be enough.

 _I must not have put enough power into it!_ Izuku thought. _I have no choice. I have to use it!_

Izuku took a deep breath and did as All Might instructed. Activating One for All.

Suddenly a red aura burst out of Izuku's body as he shouted, "Kaioken!"

Flashback, months prior.

All Might and Izuku stood in the forest together. All Might had wanted to train on a trash-filled beach, however, it had already been cleaned up, and as a result, there were now too many people there.

"All right, now that you have One for All, the first step is simply turning it on." All Might explained. "Simply reach deep inside you, clench your buttocks! And yell Smash!"

Izuku nodded and tried to do as All Might instructed.

 _I-I can feel it!_ Izuku could feel the power bursting within him.

He punched the air and said, "Detroit Smash!"

**BOOM!**

An explosion of force, Ki, and wind filled the area, as All Might had to go buff just to avoid getting blown away.

When the explosion died down All Might looked at his student. "Alright, next let's try resti-"

All Might stopped as he saw Izuku laying on the ground, passed out and with a very broken arm.

"Shit!"

A few months after that.

After a lengthy hospital stay, Izuku was now training with Whis, Zamasu, and Videl once again. But he was still very frustrated at his failure to use One for All.

"Izuku." Whis stopped him. "There is something bothering you."

Izuku froze. "Uh...it's nothing."

"Now, now. You should know better than to lie to your teacher." Whis scolded. "Now...what is it?"

Izuku paused to wonder if he should tell him. _All Might said not to tell anyone about One for All. But they're gonna find out eventually. And Whis-sensei might be able to help._

"W-well I found out something new about my quirk." Izuku lied. "I found out that I actually do have a lot of power...it's just separate from my ki."

"Power separate from Ki." Whis looked skeptical, but Izuku hoped he would buy it. "I see."

"Uh, do you remember that giant explosion that happened in the forest a while ago?" Izuku asked.

"Of course. An enormous explosion happened in the middle of the forest, it was so big people could see it from miles away. And yet no one knows who or what caused it." Whis explained.

"Yeah...that was me," Izuku said sheepishly.

"What!?" Zamasu and Videl stopped what they were doing, in favor of looking at Izuku with wide disbelieving eyes.

"Oh my. Are you telling me that massive explosion was caused by your newfound power?" Whis also seemed a bit surprised but far less than the other two.

"Yes," Izuku confirmed.

"That's...that's incredible!" Zamasu said. "I thought that some of that blast may have been ki, but to think that you were the one responsible...it seems the gods have acknowledged your efforts."

"Bakugo is gonna be so mad when he finds out!" Videl smirked. "Wait...this doesn't have anything to with...you know...the moon."

Izuku flinched. "N-no! This power is completely different. But…"

"And here is the catch," Whis said.

"But I can't control it all!" Izuku quickly added. "It used up all my ki and it broke my arm!"

"Well, that's a considerable drawback," Whis said. "Tell me, did you make the same mistake you made back when you were trying to learn spirit body boost?"

"T-the same mistake?" Izuku repeated.

"Yes, you kept trying to focus all your ki in your arms and fist, making it explode, instead of letting it flow throughout your entire body." Whis reminded him.

Izuku felt so stupid. _Of course! It's practically the same thing as spirit body boost! I have to let it flow through me!_

"Thank you Whis sensei! I'll try it right now!" Izuku got into a stance and prepared to activate One for All.

"Not so fast." Whis stopped him. "If the result of you losing control was breaking your arm. Then there is a good chance that even if you use it like spirit body boost, your body still won't be able to handle it. Try using it at a lower power, and then seeing how much you can handle."

Izuku nodded. "Yes, Sensei!"

The monkey tailed boy took a deep breath. He thought about One for All, if it was really like a spirit body boost, then he could restrain its power in a similar fashion.

"HAAAAAAAAA!" Izuku shouted as he activated One for All, and a red aura engulfed him.

"Wow," Videl said. "That looks intense."

"Indeed. Are you sure you're using the lowest possible amount of power you can use?" Zamasu asked.

"Y-yeah. I think I'm only using two percent of it." Izuku estimated.

To test out his power, he started rapidly punching the air. His punches were noticeably faster, and they felt stronger to Izuku.

He turned towards the training dummies and fired a few ki blasts.

The blast hit the dummies, burning them and knocking them down, even partially destroying some of them.

"I definitely got stronger," Izuku grunted. "But even using this little amount of it...still feels painful. And I can feel my stamina draining away too."

"Hmm. That is most likely because your body is not used to your new power." Whis explained as Izuku turned off the power. "Alright, let's get back to training. Izuku, you will be focusing on getting your body used to your new power."

"Wait!" Izuku said. "What are we going to call it?"

"You have to be joking." Zamasu's face is palmed. "Please tell me you aren't going to give that godly power, a ridiculous name like you do your other attacks."

"Hey! Those attacks aren't ridiculous." Izuku protested. "Although...power from the gods. The Kaioshins...hmmm...how about...the Kaioken!"

"Hmm, that's actually not terrible," Zamasu said. "For once you've impressed me with your naming skills."

"Psh. Of course the minute he names something after the gods you're impressed." Videl snarked.

"Well then, let's get back to work," Whis said. "Izuku, let's perfect the Kaioken."

Back to the present.

The power of the Kaioken flooded into the beam, powering it up so it could shred the robots apart.

After a few seconds, the beam dissipated, and the robots hit by it were partially destroyed and inoperational.

Izuku smiled and deactivated the Kaioken.

In the months since he first activated the Kaioken, he'd made significant progress. Now he could use two percent of One for All's power, without it harming his body, and he could even use higher levels of it as well, although those would still do damage to his body. And of course, the stamina draining was still an issue even at two percent. Meaning he had to use it sparring to give him a burst of power and speed.

Zamasu landed and turned to his partner. "That's six for me and seven for you. Let's go."

"Wait!" Izuku called out, making Zamasu stop. "We have to help them!"

Izuku pointed at one of the other participants who was clutching their leg in pain.

"That will only slow us down, we have to go," Zamasu told him.

Izuku crossed his arms and glared at him. Doing is classic, I'm not going to change my mind about this pose.

Zamasu growled and ran over to the injured boy, knowing it would be faster if he just healed him.

"I think I broke my leg!" The boy whined.

"Well then sit still," Zamasu told him as he touched the boy's leg.

A white aura coved the boy's leg, and slowly he started to feel better.

"It...it doesn't hurt anymore." The boy said. "But...I feel so tired."

One thing Zamasu could do with his quirk was heal. Not only himself but others too. By touching them he could use either his ki or theirs to heal injuries. Not nearly as well as he could heal his own, but it was still very useful. The drawback depends on whether on not he used his own ki or theirs to heal them. If he used his own then he'd be draining his own ki. And if he used theirs then it would make the person exhausted from using their own life force to heal.

"He's healed. Now let's go." Zamasu said. "We need to find robots and fast."

"They already found us!" Izuku pointed out a horde of six one pointers followed by three two-pointers.

"Well, it looks like the gods have rewarded us for our good deed," Zamasu smirked. "I'm going to blitz them. Increase your speed to match."

Izuku nodded. "Kaioken!"

As Izuku was engulfed by the red aura of the Kaioken, Zamasu pumped more Ki into his body, and the two dashed towards the robots at breakneck speed.

"I'll get the one pointers you get the two," Zamasu said, receiving a nod from Izuku.

As they approached the robots, Zamasu ran out in front.

He cut through three of the one pointers in one big slash, two one points tried to attack him from behind, but he quickly spun around and slashed them in half. He then dashed forward and shoved his blade right through the center of the last one pointer.

As Zamasu pulled his hand out of the destroyed robot, the two pointers both charged at him.

But then Izuku dashed in, jumping over Zamasu with a ki blade in each hand, and cut through both their necks.

"That's twelve for me and elven for you," Zamasu said.

"This is going great! These things are a lot easier to destroy than I thought." Izuku said. "Maybe Videl has a better chance than we thought."

"Perhaps," Zamasu said. "But let's not concern ourselves with that now. We have points to acquire."

And so the test has begun! Will Izuku and Zamasu pass? Probably. Will Videl pass?

Find out next time on The Strongest of them All!


	4. Episode 4: Testing Time Part 2

Meanwhile, with the teachers.

"My my we have some very interesting canaditis this year," Nezu said as he sipped his tea.

"True. We have an Iida who performs very well as expected of a boy from a family of heroes. And I like the fire from that Bakugo boy." Midnight praised.

"Yeah but his attitude is crap!" Present Mic added.

"We're not judging him based on attitude, we're judging him by performance," Aizawa said. "And while he has the most villain points so far, he has no rescue points whatsoever."

"Technically the highest." All Might corrected. "If you counted teams having the same points, then young Midoriya and young Kai would have the most by far."

On the screen, the teachers watched as Izuku distracted two three pointers, only for Zamasu to cut them in half.

"But we don't. So they're scored individually." Aizawa said.

"Even still they are doing exceedingly well. I think this is the best we've seen a team of two students ever do." Nezu said. "And they're helping other candidates along the way."

"Although the Kai kid doesn't seem to want to." Aizawa pointed out.

"But he's still doing it so we have to give him the rescue points," Nezu said. "If my calculations are correct, which they always are, then Kai is in first and young Midoriya is in second. With Bakugo in third. Many firsts this year. First students working as a team to get first and second place, and the first student to ever make it to their place with zero rescue points."

"If we're done talking about them, we can address the elephant in the room," Aizawa said, looking at the screen showing Videl just barely destroying a one pointer.

"Poor girl." Midnight said. "She's trying so hard. And she's doing a lot better than I thought she would but…"

"This test was simply not made for her." All Might stared sadly at the screen. After watching the girl for a while All Might could confirm that everything Izuku had told him about her was true.

This girl was fierce. Determined. And tough. All Might had been skeptical that she'd even manage to beat one robot, and the girl had managed to beat ten using nothing but a piece of another destroyed robot that another student had beaten. It was impressive.

But it took too long.

It took her somewhere between half a minute and a minute and a half to beat each robot. And that was if she wasn't dodging attacks from other robots. This was much slower than the passing students, who tended to destroy them in seconds, while also helping other students. This combined with not having anything to increase her mobility or speed to travel around the huge environment, meant she wasn't beating enough robots.

To be fair there wasn't much else she could do. The girl was clearly proficient in martial arts but that wouldn't work on robots. Meaning she had no choice but to find a weapon and blunt force her way through the test.

"Why don't we just tell students about the off switches one the robots?" Cementoss asked.

"Those off switches are meant to evaluate a student's ability to find an enemy's weak point. That wouldn't work if we just told them where they are." Aizawa explained.

"But no one expects robots to have weak points...well except for structural weak points but anyone who'd notice that is probably in the support course," Cementoss argued.

"I just had an idea, what about next year, we tell the students about the switches, but we make it so that each robot's switch is located randomly on a hidden location in their body." Power Loader suggested.

"Hmm, an interesting idea," Nezu said as he sipped his tea. "Perhaps we'll try it next year. For now, let's release the Zero pointer shall we?"

Back in the testing area.

Izuku finished cutting through another three-pointer. "And that's 56 for me. And 58 for you."

"I think we've more than passed by now," Zamasu said. "But we can not take chances with our futures. Lets-"

Suddenly, the ground started to rumble. Shaking violently as something was rising out of the ground.

Izuku and Zamasu looked behind them and saw a huge robot, taller than all the buildings in the fake city, rise out of the ground, before starting to move towards them.

"I believe that is the zero point robot," Zamasu said before turning to Izuku. "Let's use max speed for a few seconds to get as far from it as possible before we continue hunting robots."

"Wait," Izuku told his friend. "Over there, in the rubble!"

In the distance, Izuku could see the brown-haired girl from earlier, Ochaco Urarka, trapped under a pile of rubble.

"Isn't that the girl from before," Zamasu noted. "Can't she make things float?"

"Her quirk is probably at its limit. Or maybe it can't make things that big float." Izuku theorized, "Either way, she needs our help. If we don't move her she'll get crushed by the robot!

Zamasu sighed. "I doubt U.A. would allow such a thing to happen, but in the minuscule chance that that could occur, I suppose we should save her. And quickly."

The two pumped ki through their bodies, at full power.

"Kaioken times three!" Izuku shouted, using the next level of Kaioken.

The two dashed over to the girl as quickly as possible, covering a great distance in only a matter of seconds.

By the time they reached her the robot was looming near.

They used their strength and pulled the rubble off of her, and Zamasu carried her up out of it before running away from the Zero Pointer just as fast.

"Thank you," Ochaco said after they stopped.

"Your welcome. Consider this thanks for your kindness earlier." Zamasu said. "Can you stand?"

"Y-yeah. But I think I hurt my ankle." She replied.

Zamasu laid her down and touched her ankle, using her ki to heal it.

"Oh! You healed it!" The girl stood up. "You two are lifesavers, you know that!"

"That is what we aspire to be." Zamasu looked at Izuku, about to tell him to go hunt more robots, but he found his partner was staring, transfixed on the zero pointer.

Zamasu sighed. "What are you thinking now?"

"We should destroy the zero pointer," Izuku suggested.

"What!" Ochaco shouted in surprise at the crazy idea.

"Why one earth would we do that?" Zamasu asked. "It is as the name implies, worth zero points."

"Are you saying we can't do it?" Izuku asked.

"No, I'm saying we have no reason to," Zamasu answered. "It's not worth it."

"But it might cause problems for the others! If we don't take it down someone could be hurt!" Izuku reasoned. "Also it would be really, really cool!"

Zamasu was about to point out how childish that logic was, when Izuku continued with, "Also Kacchan is almost definitely gonna take down the one in his area. If we don't take down ours then he'll probably gloat about it even if we got more points than him."

Zamasu shut his mouth and grit his teeth in anger. "Well, then we have no choice. Do you have a plan to destroy this titan?"

"One minute left everyone!" Shouted Mic's voice over the speakers.

"Okay, so I was thinking about using the Special Beam Cannon!" Izuku suggested.

The Special Beam Cannon was like an improved version of the Dodon Ray. In that like the Dodon ray it's meant to be a powerful, yet narrow, piercing attack, this time Izuku would charge up energy and then shoot it out like a drill. The only downside of this is that it required a lengthy charge time and a lot of Ki. Which is why Izuku more commonly used the Dodon ray.

"If I can pierce through its head, then maybe I can take out something important and stop it," Izuku said.

"That sounds like it could very easily fail." Zamasu sighed. "But I don't have any other ideas and we are running out of time. What do you want me to do."

"I'm going to use the Kaioken times four," Izuku explained. "I'm not sure I can pierce it all the way through otherwise. But that's going to hurt my body and sap my stamina a lot, so I need you to heal me and lend me energy while I charge."

"All right. Let's do this quickly." Zamasu said.

Izuku turned around. "Kaioken times four!"

The boy was shrouded in that crimson aura once more, but this time it was bigger, more uncontrollable. Izuku felt his body strain under One for All's power until Zamasu put his hand on his shoulder, and the pain became more bearable.

Izuku took a deep breath and brought two fingers to his forehead.

His fingers started to glow, and even spark like they were giving off electricity.

Soon this glowing and sparking became more prominent, as Izuku gathered more and more energy in his fingers.

 _Come on. Come on!_ Izuku thought as he charged the attack.

The Zero pointer loomed closer, not too close the distance between them was starting to get uncomfortably short.

 _S-should I leave?_ Ochaco thought. She had stayed due to being exhausted from both the tests, but that robot was getting too close for her comfort.

After a few more moments, Izuku moved his fingers and aimed them right at the robot's head. "Now! Special Beam Cannon!"

**BRRRRRRRR.**

A spiral, drill-like energy beam shot out of Izuku's fingers, reaching the Zero pointer's head and starting the drill through its hull. The metal was only able to hold it off for a few seconds before the beam pierced through the robot's head, and it came out the other side.

The beam dissipated, and Izuku collapsed onto the floor, even with Zamasu's help it had still taken a lot out of him to do that, especially after using the Kaioken and his so much today.

The robot stuttered, it's movements slowing for a moment, before it went in reverse for a second, before going forward again. It started to emit crackling electricity noises as it spazzed out for everyone to see.

**Kaboom!**

And then, it's head exploded. Apparently, Izuku had definitely hit something important, and now pieces of the robot were raining down around the area, which was thankfully void of people.

Except for Izuku, Zamasu and Ochaco

And wouldn't you know it, one of the bigger pieces of the robot was heading right towards the duo that had destroyed it, with both of them being too tired to react.

But just in the nick of time, Ochaco grabbed them both, Izuku and Zamasu, and pulled them out of the way.

**Crash!**

The piece of metal smashed against the street, turning to pieces of shrapnel that luckily hit no one.

"And it's over!" Mic announced the end of the test.

All three of them took a sigh of relief.

"That was close," Ochaco said.

"Yes, thank you very much for rescue, had you not done that, Izuku would have been horribly injured," Zamasu said.

"Just him?" Ochaco asked.

"My quirk makes me all but immortal. Had that hit me I would have simply regenerated?" Zamasu explains. "Izuku, not so much."

"Hehe, thanks." Izuku rubbed the back of his head sheepishly and gave her his brightest smile.

"Your welcome," Ochaco said, before looking at the destroyed robot. "I can't believe you did that for bragging rights."

"No, we did that so someone else wouldn't have bragging rights." Zamasu corrected.

"Still, that's really petty," Ochaco said.

"Yeah." Izuku agreed. "But it was cool! We beat that thing! We actually beat it!"

Ochaco giggled at his enthusiasm. _Oh my god, his tail is wagging that's so cute!_

Zamasu looked at the two of them. "Well since we all get along so well, Uraraka would mind if I asked you for your friendship? Izuku does not have many of those."

"H-hey! Neither do you!" Izuku pointed out.

"That is a choice!" I don't need many friends when I have my devotion to the gods." Zamasu said.

Ochaco snickered in amusement. "Ok! That sounds fun. Doesn't seem like there's a dull moment with you guys."

Zamasu laughed. "Believe me, for better and worse, there isn't.

Sometime later.

Izuku and Zamasu were waiting by the gates for Videl. Ochaco had already left saying she needed a shower and a nap, which neither of them could blame her for.

When Videl eventually came, she was not in a cheery mood. Immediately telling both Izuku and Zamasu how well she did on the test.

However, it turns out they didn't need to read her body language to figure out how she did, as before they could say anything, she said. "I failed."

Izuku and Zamasu looked at each other before looking at their friend concernedly.

"You don't know that," Izuku said. "Don't jump to-"

Zamasu put his hand on Izuku's shoulder. "Izuku. Hope is a gift. False hope is a cruelty."

Izuku pushed Zamasu's hand off his shoulder. "But we don't know if-"

"I beat thirteen robots, Izuku." Videl interrupted him, her eyes pointing downward the entire time and her fist clenched. "And almost all of them were one pointers."

Silence.

Neither Izuku nor Zamasu had nothing to say in response to that, as both of them knew there was little to no chance she passed.

"Let's just go home," Videl said.

The trip home maintained that dreadful silence.

A couple weeks later.

Izuku rushed through the forest, using his quirk to ensure he got to his destination in record time.

He had just gotten his acceptance letter, and he, Zamasu, and Videl all agreed to meet up at their treehouse.

They'd built the treehouse when they were younger, and Zamasu dubbed it Kami's Lookout. Which was funny because he was the one who didn't want to build it until they told him he could go there when he didn't want to deal with his grandfather.

When Izuku finally arrived at the tree, he quickly climbed it like the monkey boy he was and entered the lookout.

"About time you got here." Was Videl's greeting to him when he got there.

Izuku gave her a surprised stare. He'd expected her to still be all mopey and depressed like she was back when he'd last seen her at the exam. But now she seemed...perfectly normal. She still didn't seem too happy but she was always like that.

"It does vex me how one can have super speed and yet still be late," Zamasu said with no small amount of annoyance.

"Did you seriously say the word "vex"?" Videl asked.

"Sorry! Mom and I were so excited that we ended up celebrating for a bit too long." Izuku apologized.

"Right," Videl said.

There was a long pause for a while.

All of them knew what they were here for her, but neither Zamasu nor Izuku wanted to bring it up with Videl right there and had almost certainly failed.

Except Videl herself apparently.

"So you two passed." It wasn't even a question, Videl said it like a statement. A testament to her faith in them.

"Of course," Zamasu said. "First place. There was never a doubt."

"I passed too. Second place." Izuku said. "Um...what about you?"

Videl, with a perfect poker face, pulled out her holo messenger and played it.

 **"I am here! As a projection!"** Shouted a Holographic All Might. **"Hello, Ms...Satan...what...she prefers to be called by her first name...of thank goodness. Hello Ms. Videl! I'm sure you're confused as to why you're seeing me! Well, I asked you to do your message personally!"**

That took Zamasu and Izuku by surprise. They had also both gotten an All Might message, but they expected that was because they had actually passed. All Might was going to be a heroics teacher meaning that if Videl failed then she wouldn't be seeing him. But yet he asked to do it personally.

 **"Unfortunately you only got fifteen points. Unfortunately, that is not enough to pass you."** Holo Might said. **"There are also rescue points, given for when you save someone else...but you didn't get any of those. I'm sorry Ms. Videl. But you won't be accepted into the hero course."**

The dread that had come at the end of the exam had returned. It wasn't as strong this time as they already knew the result and had somewhat come to terms with it. But still, hearing the confirmation from All Might himself...it wasn't a great feeling.

Zamasu put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm-"

"Watch the whole thing," Videl told them.

 **"But, this is not the end!"** Holo Might continued. **"After watching you perform, I can say with certainty that even though you failed this test, you have what it takes to be a hero! Hone your skills, and enter the Tournament of Power! I know you can do it! Your friends, and I, believe in you! One day, you will be the first quirkless hero! Until then! Farewell!"**

The hologram turned off, leaving the three teens in slightly stunned silence for a moment until Videl smirked.

"He's right," Videl said. "I just have to work harder, and kick ass in the Tournament!"

"Hmph. I don't know why you're only so reassured now. I've been telling you this for a long time." Zamasu said. "Although, All Might does have a...aura of comfort that I...not necessarily lack, but do not excel in the same way he does."

"He did it! He did the thing I asked for!" Izuku said, getting confused looks from both Videl and Zamasu. "Oh, right you weren't there. Remember when Video was upset because she wasn't sure she could get into U.A.? The same day we met All Might?"

"You mean when you grabbed onto him and catapulted into the sky? Videl asked.

"Yeah! Well, the reason I did that is because I wanted to ask him if he thought Videl could be a hero! And I asked him to tell her that to cheer her up!" Izuku explained. "And he finally did it!"

The two of them looked at him in bewilderment.

"You're telling me that you let yourself get launched a hundred feet in the air, just to ask All Might to help me out of my funk?" Videl asked.

"Yes!" Izuku said with no shame.

For the first few moments, he just got more bewildered looks, before they changed to resigned "of course you did" looks.

"I don't know whether to slap you or hug you." Videl sighed.

"I vote for both." Zamasu held up his palm, glowing with ki. "I'll slap him, you can hug him."

"Wait wait wait wait!"

**SLAP!**

And so starts a new chapter in the lives of these three friends. While Videl may not be joining them, Izuku and Zamasu have made it into the hero course with flying colors! What will happen once they reach U.A.? What new people will they meet? And how mad is Bakugo going to be when he finds out he got third?

Find out next time, on Strongest of Them All!


	5. Episode 5: Welcome to U.A.

Zamasu, Izuku, and Videl stood outside the U.A. gates once more, this time in their U.A. uniforms. As U.A. students.

"Well, guess this is where we split off." Videl sighed. "I'm off to gen ed."

"Try not to get into any fights," Zamasu told her. "I know it is in your barbaric nature, but if you get kicked out and lose your chance at being a hero, Izuku will burst into tears."

"Hey!" Izuku shouted in protest as Videl chucked and ruffled his hair.

"Try not to let anyone walk all over him," Videl told Zamasu. "And don't let Bakugo go too long without getting punched in the face."

"I do not punch, I slice." Zamasu corrected, "But I see your point. We will see you in several hours."

"See ya," Videl said as she left towards her own class.

Izuku and Zamasu went on their way, moving through the halls until they reached a door that read 1-A.

"At last, now, let us see who we shall be spending the next three years with," Zamasu said, opening the door revealing-

"You wanna fight glasses!?" Shouted Bakugo.

"Instigating a fight so quickly! Are you sure you're trying to be a hero!?" Shouted the blue-haired boy from the entrance exam.

Both Izuku and Zamasu stood there stunned for a moment, at the odds of them getting both Bakugo and the boy from the exam as classmates.

"By Zeno." Zamasu groaned. "What had I done in a previous life to deserve such torment."

This complaint gathered the attention of the two arguing students.

Bakugo predictably growled at them, however, the blue haired boy simply marched over to the two of them.

"You two!" The boy shouted. "My name is Tenya Iida and I-"

"Stop!" Zamasu put his hand up to silence him. "Iida was it, I have no interest in hearing any more of your prattle. Your loud, uninformed stupidity caused me to embarrass myself in front of a pro hero! It is clear that you are a dull-witted ill mannered-gah!"

Izuku stopped Zamasu by lightly elbowing him in the arm. "That's rude Zachan. He didn't even finish his sentence! He might have been trying to apologize."

Zamasu rolled his eyes and was about to call Izuku overly optimistic, but Iida spoke first.

"That is exactly right!" Iida shouted.

Zamasu looked at him with disbelieving eyes. Gawking at him as if he had just told him the sky was purple. "I...I beg your pardon?"

"You are absolutely correct in everything that you said!" Iida bowed apologetically. "My questioning of the U.A. staff was impetuous, my calling out Midoriya was unwarranted, and my attempt to scold you for teaming up was done without researching the proper rules of the exam, and relying on hearsay. The stress of the exam caused me to act improperly and in an unacceptable manner. I would like to sincerely apologize for this horrible first impression, and ask that it not color your impression of me!"

While Zamasu was still looking at him like some sort of impossible paradox, Izuku was smiling ear to ear. "Of course we forgive you! We didn't give the best first impression either so let's just start over! My name is Izuku Midoriya and this is Zamasu Kai."

Iida's eyes widened when he heard Zamasu's last name and it looked like it caught the attention of two other students as well. "Kai?! He is a member of that prestigious family?!

"Yes," Zamasu said, finally regaining his composure. "I am in fact a member of the Kai family."

Zamasu continued to glare at Iida, but this one held less bite to it. It was more like he was inspecting Iida. "I must admit you caught me off guard with your apology. It is uncommon for people to admit their mistakes, especially this quickly. A good quality if nothing else. However the scale of your offense is quite serious, I will not forgive you so quickly. You must earn my trust."

"Just compliment him a few times and he'll get over it," Izuku told him, earning a glare from his friend.

"Must you constantly undermine me?" Zamasu asked.

"If I didn't, everyone would get mad at you." Izuku reminded him.

Before Zamasu could argue, they heard a familiar voice from behind them.

"I recognize those hairstyles! It's you two!" Izuku and Zamasu turned around and saw Uraraka standing behind them.

"Ah, Uraraka. At last, someone I don't despise." Zamasu said. "Although, was it really our hair that gave us away? I would have thought it was the green skin and monkey tail."

"To be fair Zachan, you've had that hairstyle since you were a child." Izuku pointed out.

"As have you, at least mine is a choice, rather than simply being unable to tame my own hair," Zamasu remarked.

"It's been a while since we last talked, thanks again for the help on the exam," Ochaco said.

"Ah it was nothing, it got us points in the end anyway so we benefited from it too." Izuku rubbed the back of his head with a big red blush on his face.

"If you're here to socialize then get out." Said a gruff voice from behind Ochaco.

The three kids immediately looked behind her, and saw...some kind of giant yellow caterpillar?

The caterpillar turned, revealing the face of a man. Showing that it was just a sleeping bag. The person inside said sleeping bag then crawled out, revealing himself to be a...rather disheveled looking man.

"I am your homeroom teacher, Aizawa Shota. Everyone get in your seats and be quiet." The man said.

After a few minutes, everyone was in their seats, heads forwards, and focused on the teacher in front of them.

"It took you three minutes to settle down, that will have to improve," Aizawa said. "All of you, change into your gym uniforms and meet me outside."

Before anyone could question what exactly was going on, the teacher just walked out of the room.

"Wha...what just happened?" Ochaco asked.

"Well, it seems that our teacher is not wasting any time. Good. My time is precious after all." Zamasu said.

"It's like every word he says makes me want to punch him in the face," Jiro muttered, commenting on Zamaus's smug tone.

Later, outside.

Most of the students had already lined up and they were awaiting the last few.

"So, are we to assume you are Eraserhead?" Zamasu asked.

Aizawa raised an eyebrow, not letting his slight shock at them knowing who he was. "And how did you figure that out?"

"Well neither of us recognized you, and we know practically every hero in the city except for the underground ones, so we assumed you were an underground hero. Given that there aren't that many of them, and that your description fits what we know of Eraserhead we assumed you were Eraserhead." Izuku explained.

 _Oh great. Fanboys._ Aizawa sighed.

Fortunately, before Aizawa's headache could grow the last few students finally made it to the field.

"Alright, now we'll be performing a test of your abilities, it'll be like all the tests you've had previously in gym classes, except now, you can use your quirks," Aizawa explained.

"Really! Awesome!" Said Kaminari excitedly.

"I'm getting number 1, fuckers!" Bakugo shouted, still very salty about the entrance exam, feeling he was robbed of his rightful spot as number 1 by the reveal or rescue points.

"This should be fun!" Ochaco cheered.

Aizawa seemed to take this jubilation as a personal insult. "Fun. You think this is going to be fun? Well, then how about this. That person who gets last on this test will be expelled."

"WHAT!?" Shouted most of the class.

"You can't do that!" Shouted Mina.

"That's not fair!" Ochaco protested.

"Villain attacks, natural disasters, random acts of violence," Aizawa said. "Life isn't fair. Get used to it."

 _It appears this teacher is not one that tolerates weakness._ Zamasu thought. _Not that affects me. However, is it truly right to judge someone so swiftly? I will simply have to wait and see. This could be a ruse after all._

Sometime later,

Aizawa watched the children closely as they performed.

He wasn't gonna lie, he was slightly annoyed at how well Zamasu and Izuku were doing.

The two of them had rubbed him the wrong way during the entrance exam. Using teamwork, not taking the test too seriously, and needlessly destroying the Zero pointer, essentially doing it for bragging rights.

But he had to, begrudgingly, give the two credit. They had not only gotten first and second on the entrance exam even while not giving it their all and doing all that needless crap, but they were also performing exceedingly well during this test.

Zamasu's spirit body boost meant he would excel in most of his test, and while Izuku's boost was weaker, that sporadic burst of the kaioken meant he was performing just fine.

Honestly, Aizawa didn't think he was gonna expel anyone from this test, the kids in last so far weren't in last because they were slacking or lacked potential; it was because their quirks weren't suited for this in comparison to the other students.

Aizawa sighed. First day and no expulsions. Either he was getting soft. Or this class was gonna be a nightmare.

After the test.

The class waited anxiously for the results.

Some students were extremely nervous that they might be expelled.

Others were more confident that they wouldn't be last.

And some were confident they would be first.

"These are the results," Aizawa said curtly, before revealing the results on a nearby board.

The results lit up, revealing each of their placements.

Izuku placed in sixth.

 _Looks like I still need to improve._ Izuku thought. He was a little frustrated but overall he was ok with his placement. But at the same time, he knew he could do better.

Zamasu and Bakugo were in shock that neither of them took first, with Bakugo placing at third and Zamasu and fourth respectively.

"How the hell am I not above the ponytail and half and half!" Bakugo screeched.

"How did I manage to fall below Bakugo!?" Zamasu gagged as if the notion would cause him to vomit. "Did I restrict myself too much!?"

And in last place, was Toru Hagakure.

"NOOOOOO!" The invisible girl cried, with Mina coming in to console her.

"Oh, and by the way, no one is being expelled," Aizawa revealed.

"WHAT!?" Shouted most of the class. Although some didn't look surprised.

"It was just a logical ruse to draw out your full potential," Aizawa said. "Class dismissed."

"Of course it was a logical ruse, to expel someone on the first day for something like this would be absurd," Momo said.

"Agreed. If Sensei were to expel someone for this then he would be a fool." Zamasu turned to his classmates. "You all should have more faith in your elders."

"Could you two no stand next to each other? Your combined smugness might crush us all." Sero said.

"If Sploody hands stands over there then their smugness might eclipse the sun!" Kaminari jokes.

"The fuck you say dunce face!" Bakugo barked.

"Smug!?" Momo seems genuinely horrified by that statement.

"Why does everyone insist I am smug? I am merely confident in myself. As I should be." Zamasu said.

"Dude every time you speak, I can hear you looking down on us," Jiro commented.

Izuku watched, amused at the back and forth banter that unfolded in front of him. This class would be interesting, that's for sure.

Later, at U.A.'s entrance.

Izuku, Zamasu, and Ochaco waited outside the gate, as the person they were waiting for finally arrived.

"Hey." Videl greeted them, before spotting Ochaco. "Oh, it's that girl from the entrance exam. Uraraka, right?"

"Yup. Nice to meet you again." Ochaco said. "Sorry, you didn't pass the exam."

Videl waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine. I'll get in after the tournament. So, you hanging out with us now?"

"I guess so. You guys seem nice so, why not?" Ochaco answered.

"It is imperative that we form bonds as defenders of justice and enforcers of the gods," Zamasu said.

"Gods?" Ochaco questioned.

Before Zamasu could go on, a familiar voice called out to them.

"Wait just a moment!"

Everyone looked behind them and saw Iida running towards them.

The reactions to this varied from Zamasu's and Videl's less than pleased expressions, Ochaco's curious expression, while Izuku seemed to be happy about this at least.

"God, speaking of people from the entrance exam." Videl groaned, ready to argue if she needed to.

"It's ok, he already apologized," Izuku explained. "He was just overstressed during the exam."

"Oh?" Videl raised an eyebrow, lowering her guard, just a little bit.

"That's right! I am here to make up for my behavior during the exam." Iida said. "That is why I wish to walk with you all to the station!"

Before Videl and Zamasu could say anything, Izuku jumped in. "Sure! Feel free!"

"Excellent, now let us go!" Iida said.

Zamasu and Videl glared at Izuku, but the monkey boy just gave them a somewhat apologetic smile that said "just give him a chance."

Not having much of a choice now, the five of them walked together.

"So, Zamasu, from what I've seen you are rather religious," Iida noted.

Zamasu seemed to glow at that moment as if he was waiting all day for someone to say that. "Why, yes! I am a proud follower of Zeno and the gods!"

"Oh yeah, you mentioned that earlier. But who is Zeno and what gods are you talking about?" Ochaco asked.

Videl sighed and Izuku shook his head, as they both realized what was about to happen.

Iida and Zamasu simply looked at her shocked.

"Are you saying you've never heard of Zenoisum?" Iida asked. "While I admit I don't know much about it, to not know its existence…"

"Well!" Any trace of a bad mood vanished from Zamasu, as he seemed more than happy to explain his religion. "It seems I will have to explain it to you. It starts in the beginning."

"Here we go," Videl said, pulling out her phone.

"In a timeless, spaceless void, the oldest being in existence, the ruler of creation, the Omni King Zeno, was born. He created the universe and then created two different races of gods. The Kaioshin were the gods of creation, meant to create the planets and all life in the universe. The Hakaishin, gods of destruction, meant to destroy corrupt worlds." Zamasu explained. "The Kaioshin went throughout the new universe, creating new worlds, with many different races of beings. And thousands of years later those worlds would be inspected by the Hakaishin, who would judge the most dominant species by how virtuous they are. If the species is deemed unsalvageable, they and their world would be destroyed."

"Uh ok," Ochaco said awkwardly, she didn't really expect a whole monologue from this.

Iida on the other hand was intently listening, giving Zamasu his full attention. "Interesting!"

"When the Hakaishins came to earth and found humanity, they deemed them unfit to live and were prepared to destroy them." Zamasu continued. "However the Kaioshins said it was too soon. That there was still hope for humanity. The Hakaishin agreed to return a thousand years later, and if humanity was still as they were. They would be destroyed. The Kaioshin knew that humanity would need help to reach true perfection, and so they gifted humanity with quirks. Hoping that people would use this power, to quash evil, and guide humanity to utopia."

"How interesting, I had heard this religion surfaced after quirks started to become more widespread, so it only makes sense that the existence of quarks would be part of this story!" Iida said, deeply interested. Not because he believed in them, and more because he found it interesting to hear about someone else's belief system.

"I am glad you are interested, of course, this is only the surface. There are many more stories, which I would be happy to share." Zamasu offered.

As Zamasu and Iida nerded out, Izuku and Videl took Ochaco aside.

"Looks like they're gonna be like that for a while," Videl said. "Let this be a lesson, never let Zamasu monologue. He loves the sound of his own voice, and will go on forever."

"I can see that," Ochaco said looking back at Zamasu and Iida.

"Hey, I have an idea!" Izuku said. "Me, Zachan and Videl were gonna go training at Zachan's mansion. You want to come in."

Ochaco went wide-eyed at the word, mansion. Having never been to one before, she was eager to see what it was like. "Yeah sure sounds great!"

Izuku gave her a wide smile and his tail was spinning around behind him. A new sparring partner was always a good time, it meant he got to fight an opponent with a completely different fighting style!

"Alright! Let's go!" Izuku shouted excitedly.

Later, on the training grounds of the Kai manor.

The training grounds were located outside of the manor itself, it was basically a huge backyard consisting of multiple arenas, with different terrains that would allow for more extensive training.

Izuku and Ochaco stood on the opposite side of a forestry arena, with multiple trees inside the ring as well as a few rocks and boulders.

Whis was absent today, so they were just going to spar.

"May the gods look down upon this fight! Begin!" Zamasu signaled the fight to start.

Ochaco knew Izuku had the long-range advantage, so she immediately hid behind a nearby boulder.

 _Good idea, but I already prepared for that!_ Izuku raised his palm. "Reverse shot!"

Six pink blasts fired from his hand, missing the boulder completely and flying past Ochaco.

 _Reverse shot?_ Ochaco thought. _Wait does that mean-_

Like Ochaco suspected, the blast suddenly about-faced, and started coming right at her.

Ochaco jumped away from the rock to dodge to blast, but much to her horror, Izuku had been waiting for this and was charging up an attack, waiting for her to leap away from her cover.

Izuku brought his hands forward and aimed his attack at Ochaco. "Galick Gun!"

The Galick gun was basically a faster, weaker version of the Kamehameha. Taking about half the time to charge but also being a bit more than half as strong.

"Fire!" A purple beam fired from his hands and hit Ochaco right in the chest.

"AH!" Ochaco was sent flying back into a tree, as she was pressed between it and the beam. It felt like a blast of pressured hot air was hitting her Torso.

When the attack dissipated, Izuku didn't give her a chance to recover. "Kaioken!"

The red aura surrounded Izuku, as he extended out his palm, and a ki ball formed, but this ball started growing bigger than the average Ki blast until it reached the size of Izuku's head. "Big Bang Attack!"

The ki blast flew out at Ochaco, luckily for her the time it had taken to charge the thing was enough for her to recover, and she jumped away from the attack before it hit her.

The blast hit the tree, and like its namesake, made a big bang. A large explosion that brought the tree down next to Ochaco.

Seeing the opportunity, Ochaco grabbed the tree, using her quirk on it to negate its gravity, before picking it up to use as a weapon.

Now this tree was about twelve feet long, and since it was in an arena with limited space, it meant that his range advantage was nearly nullified.

So the best thing to do was cut it down.

As Ochaco charged at him with the tree, he formed a ki blade in his hand.

Ochaco thrust the tree at Izuku like a spear, but Izuku moved to the side of the attack, and cut the treetop, shortening it.

Izuku repeated this motion, cutting down the tree more and more.

When Izuku started getting closer to her, Ochaco suddenly threw the tree up in the air and ran at Izuku with her hands outstretched. Hoping to make him weightless.

Izuku wasn't sure he had enough space to get away from her, so he activated Kaioken times three and extended his palm towards her. "Demon explosion wave!"

An explosion of ki, looking similar to one of Bakugo's explosions, burst out of Izuku's hand and blasted Uraraka back.

"AH!" Ochaco fell back, as the explosion sent Izuku flying back before he made a rough landing on his feet.

Ochaco started getting up and noticed that Izuku was shaking off his smoking hand, it seemed that using a blast that powerful with no charge up took a toll on him.

When Ochaco got back up, Izuku used his other hand to start shooting small ki blasts at her.

She ran away from the blasts, once again hiding behind a nearby boulder.

 _Should I Reverse Shot again? She's probably expecting that._ Izuku thought.

Before he could do anything though, the boulder started floating, and it and Ochaco came closer to him as the girl used the large study rock as a shield.

"Oh, clever." Izuku praised, before extending his palm up. "Reverse shot!"

Five more pink blasts shot out of Izuku's hand and went past Ochaco and her rock.

Knowing that the blast would turn around and hit her from behind, she wanted to turn the rock around to block it, but if she did that then she'd be open to attacks from the front.

Seeing as defense didn't seem to be an option, she decided to go on the offense. She kicked the rock, sending him full speed at Izuku, while she got out of the way just in time to dodge the returning reverse shot.

Izuku stopped the rock with his foot and kicked it into the air.

Ochaco ran in between a rock and a tree, meaning she was covered from both the front and the back.

 _She's covered both front and back. Guess it's time for something new!_ Izuku thought.

Izuku raised his hand upwards and formed another ki ball about as big as an average sports ball. "Spirit Ball!"

Izuku threw the ball of ki. It moved slower than the normal ki blast, and it made its way over Ochaco.

Then, Izuku motioned downwards with his fingers, and the ki ball suddenly changed direction and started going down towards Ochaco.

Her eyes widened and she ran out of her cover to avoid the ball, but Izuku moved his fingers to the left, and the ball turned again to follow Ochaco.

As Ochaco ran from the ball, she noticed that while it was slow in comparison to Izuku's other ki attacks, it was still a bit faster than she could run, but it wasn't particularly good at making turns so she could just move around and it would never catch her.

Another thing she noticed is that Izuku wasn't hitting her with any ki blasts while she was running. So either he was running out of steam, or he was too focused on controlling the ki ball to attack her with anything else.

Seeing this, Ochaco ran towards Izuku, serpentining to make sure the ball couldn't catch up to her.

 _Uh oh. This backfired!_ Izuku panicked. He couldn't afford to keep using the spirit ball at this point, and so he detonated it.

However Ochaco had gotten close, her hands were reaching for him and were less than a foot away from his face.

Izuku activated a ki burst that forced Ochaco away, as he jumped back.

Ochaco smirked and brought her hands together. "Release!"

"Huh?" It was then that Izuku suddenly noticed the strange shadows above him.

He looked up and saw that everything Ochaco had been floating this whole battle, was above him. Broken up trees, rocks, and even that boulder that he had thrown up.

It was surrounding him, and ready to fall right on his head.

 _It was a trap!_ Izuku panicked. He might have been able to escape the range of the attack if he increased his speed with the Kaioken, but he was too close to the edge of the ring, the only way of escape was forward, and if that happened Ochaco would grab him.

His best option was to attack.

"Kaioken times four!" Izuku shouted, the red aura surrounding him.

Izuku gathered up energy as quickly as he could, inside himself. Electric-like energy crackled from his body, and just as the debris was about to hit him.

"Galaxy breaker!" Izuku shouted.

A blue aura covered his red one, and then it exploded upwards.

The energy destroyed all the debris above him, keeping it from touching him as the rest it rained down onto the ground around him.

After a few moments, Izuku's attack shrank and then dissipated completely. Leaving a panting, exhausted Izuku.

The monkey tailed boy's knee gave out, and he fell on his behind.

"I think that is enough." Zamasu stepped in to stop the fight. "Izuku, I think we can agree you're done fighting."

"No I-agh!" Izuku tried to move but his body was hurting all over from that explosive attack combined with his highest level of Kaioken.

"He's done alright. Ochaco is the winner!" Videl called.

Ochaco took a sigh of relief. "Ahhh. I was so close to throwing up."

"Your strong Uraraka!" Izuku praised her while Zamasu came over to heal him. "That last attack was really cool!"

Ochaco blushes a bit at the praise. "Ah. Well, you gave me an advantage by putting a bunch of things here for me to float. I don't think I could beat you in a normal fight."

"Don't underestimate yourself! That was a really good fight!" Izuku's eyes lit up, as he suddenly got an idea. "And it gave me an idea for a new technique!"


	6. Episode 6: Grudge Match

The next day in class, Izuku was practically bouncing in his seat.

"I understand your excitement, but must you always look like a ten-year-old whenever the prospect of All Might is brought up," Zamasu said although he did have a smile on his face while saying it.

"I think it's cute." Ochaco giggled from her own seat.

 _Noted._ Thought a certain pink-haired girl.

"I mean can you blame him!?" Asked Kaminari, almost as excited. "We're gonna get taught by freaking All Might! All Might! I bet even the ice king over there is excited."

Todoroki didn't respond.

"I am glad you are all so excited over the prospect of learning!" Iida shouted.

"Hate to break it to you, but I don't think that's why they're excited," Jiro said sarcastically.

The class excitedly chattered for a few more moments, before-

"I am entering the room like a normal person!"

Almost everyone gasped when All Might entered the room like anything but a normal person.

He marched into the room confidently, arriving at the podium in style with his silver age costume's cape flapped in the wind, which Izuku didn't fail to fanboy over.

"Alright! Everyone, it's time for your heroics class!" All Might said in his booming voice. The wall next to him opened up, revealing numbered suitcases. "These cases match your seat numbers. And inside, are you hero costumes! Get changed! And meet me in the surveillance room!"

"Yeah!" Cheered a large part of the class.

Later, in the boy's locker room.

"Woah, well isn't someone fancy?" Kaminari said, looking at Zamasu in his hero costume.

"One must always display their elegance when possible," Zamasu said.

"But isn't that a bit heavy? Or hot?" Asked Izuku's voice from behind him.

Zamasu turned around and everyone looked at Izuku's hero costume.

"Is that...your training gi?" Zamasu asked in slight disbelief.

"Yeah. It's comfortable to fight in so I made it my hero costume." Izuku explained while doing some stretches. "It's not the exact same thing though. Mom actually knitted this new one for me, and made it without the weighted parts!"

"Ah yeah! Wearing something made by your mom! That's super manly bro!" Praised Kirishima.

Zamasu gave a long-suffering sigh. "I just thought you would have gone with something with a little more flare. Perhaps some reference to All Might?"

Izuku sagged a bit. "I tried. I wanted to add this hoodie with things that looked like All Might's hair on top, but Videl saw it and said if I did that, she couldn't be seen with me in public."

"Ha!" Zamasu laughed. "That woman, giving advice on fashion!? Laughable! Although...to be fair that does sound ridiculous, so perhaps her sense of style has improved."

Izuku's face turned red with embarrassment and muttered." I thought it would have been cool."

Later, in the surveillance room

All the students had finally arrived. And All Might had explained the exercise.

An indoor exercise in which the students would be divided into teams of two and two of those teams would assume the role of heroes or villains. The villains would be given a bomb(fake) and told to protect it for a certain amount of time. They would win if the time passed, or they took down the heroes and captured them with special capture tape. The heroes would win if they captured the villains or touched the weapon.

And so the teams were made completely randomly.

Some people were ok with this.

"Look, Midoriya! We got teamed up together!" Ochaco told Izuku gleefully, getting a bit closer to him than he could handle.

"Y-yeah! Great!" Izuku said, trying to hide his blush.

And some people were not ok with this.

"By the gods how could this happen!?" Zamasu shouted, looking like he'd just been punched where the sun didn't shine.

"How the fuck did I get teamed up with snot face!" Bakugo growled.

"While I understand some of you may have concerns about your partners, as heroes you'll need to learn to put aside your differences and work together!" All Might said.

"Of course I understand this but...ugh." Zamasu groaned. "May the gods preserve me through this hardship."

"Can't fucking believe this bullshit!" Bakugo shouted.

"Anyway!" All Might said before Bakugo could spew out more profanity. "Now the first match will be decided!"

All Might pulled out two boxes, and put and hand into each pulling out two balls. "The first match will be, Team A, young Midoriya, and Young Uraraka as the heroes! And team D, young Bakugo, and young Kai as villains."

Izuku and Bakugo looked at each other. Izuku smiling excitedly, and Bakugo grinning viciously.

"Wow, what are the odds Kacchan!? Me vs you on the first exercise!" Izuku said.

"It's destiny telling me to kick your ass out of here!" Bakugo's grin grew wider and more feral, and he fired off some small explosions for effect.

"And I suppose I am chopped liver?" Zamasu asked in a completely unamused tone.

"Sorry, Zachan. But I've been wanting to use my new power of Kacchan for a while now." Izuku apologized. "But I won't forget about you either! And I won't hold back!"

"As much as seeing Bakugo's defeated face would amuse me, I'm afraid I will not be holding back either. So prepare to see defeat." Zamasu said, slightly more smug than usual.

"And I'm here too!" Uraraka reminded them, feeling awkward like she stepped into something personal.

"Alright! Let's begin!"

Sometime later, inside the building.

"So, this is what I am supposed to protect," Zamasu said, inspecting the fake bomb.

"You mean what I'm supposed to protect!" Bakugo "corrected". "I doubt your useless ass could do anything!"

"What an amusing thing to say considering you've never once beaten me." Zamasu snapped, glaring at the explosive blond.

Bakugo turned back and got in Zamasu's face. If looks could kill, then Zamasu would be ash. "You wanna fight!?"

"As long overdue as another loss by my hand is for you, that would ensure our defeat," Zamasu said. "If there is anything resembling a brain in that bloated head of yours, then you should know you can't. Then you should know you can't take myself, Izuku, and Uraraka. If not, then we might as well fight considering we've already lost!"

It took every bit of Bakugo's limited self-control to not attack Zamasu right there. But he knew he was right. And there was no way he was going to throw this match and let Deku win, basically by default.

"When we fight, I'm gonna beat the shit out of you so hard your family won't have enough money to patch your ass back up!" Bakugo growled.

Zamasu rolled his eyes. "I doubt that."

Meanwhile, outside.

Izuku and Ochaco were looking at the map, studying every last detail.

"Ok, I know what to do!" Izuku said, closing the map.

"You do?" Ochaco asked, not really sure what kind of plan Izuku could have come up with.

"Yes!" Izuku nodded, looking up at the building. "First thing I have to do is bait out Kacchan."

"Bakugo...do you and him have some kind of rivalry going on?" Ochaco asked.

"Well...I like to think so." Izuku suddenly turned sheepish. "I'm not really sure you could call it a rivalry considering how many times I've lost to him."

"How many times have you won?" Ochaco asked.

"About...five times," Izuku recalled.

Ochaco lit up. "That's not that bad!"

"Me and Kacchan have fought dozens of times," Izuku revealed.

"O-oh." Ochaco spirits immediately dampened, before she tried to perk herself back up again. "Well, at least we'll fight him together. And if we can fight him two on one than-"

"Actually I want to fight Kacchan by myself," Izuku said.

"Huh!? Why!?" Ochaco asked, worriedly.

"Well...to be honest, every time I beat Kacchan it was with Zamasu's help," Izuku explained. "And it's...not satisfying. At all. I want to be able to beat Kacchan, on my own terms. With my own...with this power. I want an honest, one on one fight."

Ochaco looked at Izuku, he had a very determined look on his face, with fire in his eyes. It was clear that this was very important to him, and if that was the case, then she could handle possibly losing.

"Oh, but uh, I don't want to be selfish and just throw the match away and take you down with me." Izuku suddenly turned sheepish again. "So that's why I-uh...made a plan."

Ochaco laughed a little. It was so weird to watch him go from shy, too excited to determined, and then back to shy. "Alright then partner! What's the plan!?"

A few minutes later.

The match had started and Izuku and Ochaco were wandering through the building until they stumbled upon an empty room with about four pillars in it.

"Ok, Kacchan should be out hunting for me right now, so hopefully this will lure him out." Izuku coughed in his hand to warm up his voice. "Kacchan! I'm over here! Face me like a man!"

"Are you sure he'll just let me go?" Ochaco asked nervously.

"Kacchan wants this fight just as bad as I do," Izuku explained. "Once he finds me, he probably won't even notice you."

"He's really self-centered huh?" Ochaco asked, slightly annoyed at not being taken seriously by her opponent.

"Well...you see...yes. But he's not that bad." Izuku tried to defend him.

"DEKU! YOU BASTARD!" Both Izuku and Ochaco heard the sound of explosions coming towards them, and then Bakugo flew out of the main hallway, with his foot aiming right at Izuku's face.

"Kaioken! Barrier!" Izuku put up his hand and made a small, square ki barrier.

Bakugo's kick hit the barrier, cracking it a bit but not getting through it.

"Tsk." Bakugo flipped off the barrier and landed a few feet away from Izuku.

"Uraraka, go!" Izuku told her, receiving a nod of confirmation before his teammate sprinted away.

Bakugo only gave her a passing glance, before turning his attention to Izuku. "You're not gonna try to fucking double team me Deku!?"

"Nope. Just me and you. As it should be!" Izuku felt his heart pumping, blood rushing through his veins. A feral smile on his face.

This was gonna be a good fight.

"Get ready to die Deku!" Bakugo charged at Izuku once more, using his explosions to increase his speed.

"Kaioken times three!" Izuku shouted, the red aura covered him, and he promptly ran behind one of the four pillars.

 _Shitty Deku! Acts brave and then he fucking runs and hides!_ Bakugo grit his teeth. _He's probably charging a goddamn laser over there waiting for me to get insight. As if I'd fucking let him!_

Instead of going around the obstacle, he'd just go through it.

He stopped in front of the pillar and then-

**BOOM!**

He used his quirk to turn the concrete into dust, leaving Izuku exposed to another explosion that would come from his other hand. Or at least, that's what Bakugo thought would happen.

Izuku seemed to have been ready for Bakugo's approach, and had a galick gun ready and charged.

"Galick Gun! Fire!" Izuku shouted as he unleashed the attack upon an unprepared Bakugo.

Katsuki tried to react by exploding himself backward to gain distance, but the beam was too fast and hit him dead in the chest.

"GAH!" Bakugo was sent flying back into a wall, and when the beam dissipated Katsuki's chest was left smoking.

 _Shit! Felt like I got hit by a slow car!_ Bakugo noted just how much stronger Izuku's attacks were, he was still relatively fine but it hurt way more than it used to, and unlike before, he wouldn't be able to take those forever.

"Grrr!" Bakugo growled, before putting his hand in a circle and placed it over his other hand. "Ap Shot: Auto Canon!"

Small explosive blasts flew out of Bakugo's hand, heading right at Izuku and covering a big enough space to stop him from dodging.

Izuku put up a larger barrier in front of him to block the shots. But he knew it wouldn't hold forever, confirmed by the fact that as the blasts hit the shield it started to crack.

Using the shield as cover he dashed towards the other pillar making it behind the more study cover without getting hit.

"Stop fucking hiding Deku!" Bakugo shouted. "Ap Shot!"

Bakugo shot out a concentrated blast of explosive energy right at the pillar, which promptly destroyed it, but didn't hit Izuku because, once again, he predicted Bakugo's attack, and ducked, allowing the blast to fly over his head.

Izuku and started firing a barrage of basic ki blasts at Bakugo.

Bakugo dodged the blast, having years of practice doing so, however, it wasn't as easy as it was normally for him, the kaioken made these blast faster and stronger, so he had to be way more careful and precise, using his explosions to maneuver around them and make sharp and sudden stops and turns.

Despite all this, all it managed to do was slow Bakugo down, as he was still making his way to Izuku, who was now standing in front of another pillar.

Izuku stopped his ki barrage and used a new attack. "Reverse shot!"

Five pink blasts shot out at Bakugo which he easily dodged.

He knew he only had a few seconds before those blasts turned back around, leaving Deku open for those few seconds.

And that was all he needed.

He blasted himself towards Deku at top speed, reaching Deku in less than two seconds, and placing his palm out in front of him.

**BOOM!**

"AH!" Izuku was slammed hard into the support column by a powerful explosion, making cracks in the pillar behind him.

As the blast from the reverse shot was coming back, Bakugo exploded himself to the right, getting out of the path of blasts, and leaving Izuku right in front of them.

Recovering just in the nick of time, Izuku jumped out of the way of his own attack, letting it slam into the already damaged support column, destroying it.

Izuku looked for Bakugo and found him standing menacingly in front of the last column.

"Nowhere to hide now!" Bakugo growled.

 _Looks like he's still not thinking past the fight._ Izuku thought before placing his palm out in front of him and forming a ki blast in his hand.

 _The big bang attack? Does this dumb ass think he can hit me with that!?_ Bakugo thought.

"Big bang attack!" Izuku launched his attack right at Bakugo, who easily dodged it.

**BANG!**

The attack exploded, destroying the last pillar in the room.

Bakugo flew towards Izuku, expecting to be able to get in a free hit since Izuku just let off a big attack, meaning he couldn't use any other ki based attacks for a couple seconds.

However, much to his surprise, the moment Izuku got into explosion range, he suddenly rushed forward, past Bakugo, and grabbed his leg while he was in mid-air.

Izuku suddenly started spinning Bakugo in a circle as fast as he could. "Dragon throw!"

He tossed Bakugo at a wall with all his strength, Bakugo tried to stop himself with his explosions, but it was too late, and he hit the wall hard.

"Gah!" Bakugo didn't expect Izuku to attack him close up, during all their battles Izuku had never really attempted to do things like that. Seeing as Izuku lacked even half the power and speed that Bakugo had, he tried to hang onto his range advantage as hard as he could.

But the Kaioken changed everything. It didn't make him as strong and fast as Bakugo, but it did make him strong and fast enough for him to use his other advantages to theoretically close the gap between them.

While Bakugo was pulling himself out of the now cracked wall, Izuku turned towards the hallway and started running.

"Double Sunday!" Izuku put both his hands behind him and unleashed two low power beams, not so much used as an attack, but more to boost him down the hallway in a similar manner to how Bakugo did with his explosions.

"Grrrr! Get back here Deku you coward!" Bakugo chased him down.

Izuku looked behind him at the pursuing Bakugo. He had gotten a big head start, so he decreased his kaioken level to times two.

He had gotten a lot better with the Kaioken. To the point where he could now use the times two variant without any strain. Times three, however, did put some strain on his body and his ki levels. And the time four version was still something he should save for special occasions. He hadn't experimented with anything above four percent of One for All yet, but he planned to soon.

 _I need to keep using times three to stand a chance._ Izuku thought. _So I can't afford to mess around._

Meanwhile, with Ochaco.

Uraraka was looking around the building, as quickly and quietly as she could. She needed to be ready for when the signal was given.

Eventually, she stumbled upon a room, with light peering out of it.

She popped her head inside as sneakily as she could, and saw Zamasu standing in front of the fake weapon.

 _Found it!_ Uraraka silently cheered. _Now I just need to wait for the signal. Hopefully, he won't see me._

"I can see you," Zamasu said, nonchalantly.

 _Crap!_ Uraraka cursed.

Ochaco popped her head back in the room and saw Zamasu staring back at her. "H-hi."

"Hello. I'm guessing that foolish partner of mine let you go so he could engage Izuku one on one?" Zamasu asked.

"Yeah," Ochaco confirmed.

"And I'm guessing Izuku completely abandoned the exercise so he could duel him as well." Zamasu sighed.

"Y-yeah." Ochaco lied.

"Honestly. We have been unfortunately wrapped up in a life-long rivalry. And as such have been cast aside by our partners." Zamasu shook his head. "Although I would say it is far more unfortunate for you than me."

"Yeah," Ochaco said, just responding so she could keep him talking. "So um...are you gonna come after me or…"

"Oh heavens no." Zamasu gave a smug laugh. "Coming by that door gives you an advantage, and a chance to touch me and take my gravity. And I don't need to anyway. I've removed everything in this room that you could use against me, and with my blade, I am more than capable of keeping you at bay. Meaning you are just as stuck in your position as I am in mine. However, I need not approach you to win. So either you stay there and the time runs out, or you come here and I capture you. I win either way."

Ochaco wanted to point out that he was forgetting Izuku, but it was better that she not bring that up.

"So um…" Ochaco looked for things to continue the conversation. "W-why does Midoriya have a monkey tail? Is it one of those things where a quirk gives you features that have nothing to do with what it actually does?"

Zamasu paused for a moment. "It is...his tail is related to his quirk. It may not seem like it, but under...certain circumstances it can have an...effect on him."

"An effect?" Ochaco didn't understand why he was being so cryptic about this.

"It is...not my place to explain it," Zamasu said. "Let us just say, when the time comes for you to see it's effect...do not judge him for it."

"O-ok?" Ochaco still didn't really understand what he meant, but she started to glean that whatever Izuku's tail did, it wasn't good, and it was a sensitive topic.

"Sooooooo, why do some lasers change colors?" Ochaco asked.

"Well, firstly they are not lasers they are ki-based attacks." Zamasu corrected. "And secondly-"

Ochaco listened intently, all she had to do was keep him talking. Until Izuku gave the signal.

Back with Izuku.

**BOOM!**

**BOOM!**

**BOOM!**

Izuku and Bakugo had reached another room filled with support columns, and Bakugo had been very annoyed to find that Izuku was repeating the same tactic he had in the other room.

So he decided, fuck it, and destroyed all the pillars with Ap shot.

Izuku ran for the exit, presumably to find another room filled with pillars to hide behind.

Bakugo was having none of that.

He stared down the hallway at the fleeing Izuku, his rage mounting. "You know what Deku!? You wanna run away!"

He lifted up his gauntlet, aiming it at Izuku and putting his finger on the pin.

"Wait! Young Bakugo! Don't!" Called All Might through their earpieces.

"Run from this!" Bakugo pulled the pin.

And then everything went white in the hallway.

**KABOOM!**

An enormous, powerful explosive blast filled the hallway Izuku was running down, blowing away the walls around it, and utterly destroying the room it led into, as the blast burst into the outside, scorching the building next to it.

When the blast died down, it looked like a quarter of the building had been destroyed. The destruction was impressive, even by Bakugo's standards.

But...Izuku was nowhere in sight.

Bakugo looked at the destruction, wondering where the hell Izuku had gone. _Shit, did I fucking kill him!?_

For a second, Bakugo was actually concerned he may have overdone it. That the blast was too much for Izuku to handle.

And then everything suddenly turned blue.

Little did Bakugo know, when Izuku had seen the blast coming, he activated Kaioken times four, and punched a hole in the floor below him, allowing them to clear the blast zone in the nick of time.

Afterward, he got below where Bakugo was, and charged up a kaioken times three Kamehameha, before unleashing it on the unsuspecting teen above him.

Bakugo was pushed up by the blast, being forced through the ceiling by the burning beam of ki.

 _AH! Need to get out of this!_ Bakugo thought as the force and heat of the blast were whittling his defenses.

**BOOM!**

With as powerful an explosion he could muster, he blasted himself out of the beam, and through a nearby wall, leading him outside.

Bakugo hit the ground hard, rolling across the pavement of the street in the fake city.

After a few moments of rolling, he eventually came to a stop.

"Oh." Bakugo groaned.

His whole world was spinning. And every muscle in his body was screaming out in pain. He honestly didn't know which was worse, the Kamehameha or flying out of a third-story window and scraping across the street at about 25 miles per hour.

After a few moments of recovering, Bakugo slowly started to pull himself up, although he was still really out of it.

**Pew.**

_Huh?_ Bakugo thought.

**Pew!**

**Pew!**

**Pew!**

**Pew!**

Bakugo shook his head to make the world stop spinning, and noticed that ki blasts were flying past him.

A lot of ki blasts.

Apparently, it had taken Bakugo longer to recover than he thought because Izuku was already catching up and just letting off an absolute flurry of ki blasts.

His aim was terrible though, as despite shooting about six ki blasts per second, none of them were hitting Bakugo.

Still given the sheer amount of ki blast and the fact that Izuku was getting closer, it was only a matter of time until Bakugo got hit if he didn't start dodging.

Seeing as he could only dodge so much on the ground, Bakugo took to the sky with his explosions, dodging ki blasts left and right.

He wanted to go towards Izuku and attack him, but there were too many ki blasts, and if he got close he was definitely going to get blasted. A better strategy would be to just let Izuku run out of steam. With him shooting this many blasts, it wouldn't take very long.

"Kacchan! Thanks for destroying so much of the building! You made that a lot easier than I thought it would be." Izuku shouted.

Bakugo froze for approximately one second, before continuing to dodge. _What the hell does that mean!?_

"I mean, I didn't want our fight to end like this, but we have to finish up quickly before the building collapses and Ochaco takes the bomb," Izuku explained, revealing his plans.

That made the blonde go wide-eyed, as he looked back at the building they were fighting in. He saw it. Cracks, pieces of it falling apart. Without its support, the upper floors would be crushed under their own weight.

 _Wait a minute! Round face can remove gravity when she touches something, so in a collapsing building, she can still move around if the fucking floor drops! And snot face can't!_ Bakugo thought, putting together Izuku's plan.

"Anyway, hopefully, this should end it, thanks for getting distracted Kacchan!" Izuku said, stopping his barrage of ki blast, and raising his arms up.

Bakugo blinked, realizing that he had been distracted with this sudden realization, looked around to see what exactly Izuku was distracting him from.

"Oh...shit." Bakugo's eyes went wide once more, as he realized that all the ki blast Izuku had been shooting out, he hadn't been shooting them randomly. Their ki blast stopped in mid-air, surrounding him until he was literally trapped in a cage of ki blast. "Deku, you little-"

"Hell zone Grenade!" Izuku shouted, bringing his arms down and across his chest.

**BWOOSH!**

The ki blast all rushed at Bakugo at once, hitting him at once and creating a small explosion.

Bakugo dropped to the ground, smoke coming from his limp and seemingly defeated body.

Izuku let out an exhausted breath, and finally deactivated kaioken, much to his body's relief, and he let his legs collapse.

Honestly, he was glad Kacchan went down when he did. His body couldn't take much more, both the kaioken and the sheer amount of ki he was using put a huge strain on him, not to mention the explosions he got hit by.

He looked back at the building. It wouldn't take too much longer for it to collapse, but they also didn't have too much time. So he should-

**BOOM!**

Hearing an explosion in front of him, Izuku turned his head back to look at Bakugo, only for his face to be grabbed, by Bakugo.

He was breathing heavily partially because of how wounded and exhausted he was, and partially because of his intense rage. His costume was torn up, and there were various burns and bruises on his body.

 _Uh oh._ Izuku thought.

**BOOM!**

**BOOM!**

**BOOM!**

**BOOM!**

Bakugo unleashed hell on Izuku, letting off point-blank explosions that encompassed Izuku's entire body.

But most of the damage was done to Izuku's face. Sheer pain coursed through Izuku's body, that would render a normal person unable to move.

However, Izuku had gotten used to taking such explosions, even if it had never been quite this bad before, and after about five explosions he prepared to retaliate.

He opened his palm and summoned what was left of his ki with times two kaioken, and unleashed a demon explosion wave!

**BOOM!**

Bakugo was blasted back as the attack hit him right in the chest.

The two stayed on the floor for a while. Their bodies were screaming at them, begging them to stop.

Izuku's face was badly bruised and burned, and some blood was even leaking from his wounds. The smoking hand he had used the demon explosion wave from, was burnt up and his bones were bruised.

Bakugo wasn't in good shape either, the D.E.W. having done more damage to him than it did Izuku, breaking a rib or two.

Time passed, and just as All Might was about to declare them both out, Bakugo rose.

Using sheer will power, Bakugo got up. So he could claim victory.

Seeing Bakugo stand up with his blurry vision, Izuku knew he had lost. He didn't have the energy to move.

"I win Deku! You hear me! I fucking win!" Bakugo roared.

"Y-your...right Kacchan," Izuki admitted, coughing up some blood in the process. "I still couldn't beat you in a fight...even if I won the battle."

**CRACK!**

**CRACK!**

**CRACK!**

Bakugo looked up at the building and saw bigger and bigger cracks appear in the walls, as pieces crumbled and fell off.

The building was collapsing. And there was nothing he could do about it.

"Uraraka! Do it now!" Izuku coughed into his earpiece.

With Ochaco and Zamasu.

The building was shaking, and cracks appeared in the walls and floor.

"What on earth!?" Zamasu said he struggled to keep his footing.

"Uraraka! Do it now!" Ochaco heard in her earpiece.

"Right!" Ochaco ran into the room, startling an already panicked Zamasu.

"Was your plan to collapse the building!?" Zamasu asked, extremely befuddled.

He activated his ki blade and moved towards her.

Only for the ground to crack under him.

"Oh this is Bakugo's fault and I know it!" Zamasu said before the ground crumbled from under him and he fell through the floor. "Curses!"

With Zamasu gone, Ochaco now had a clear path towards the bomb.

However, as she was running, the ground started to crack and crumble under her as well.

She touched herself and leaped towards the bomb, flying over the crumbling floor and gliding to the bomb.

"Gotcha!" Ochaco said as she landed on the bomb, however, her relief was quickly being replaced with nausea, as her quirk was still active on herself. "Release!"

With her quick deactivated, she could now take a sigh of relief as it was finally over...wait a minute, she was still in a collapsing building.

Nervousness rising, Ochaco frantically looked for an escape as the rest of the floor and the walls started to collapse.

**SMASH!**

Suddenly, a nearby window broke as the wall started to break around it. Giving Ochaco an idea.

She activated her quirk on the bomb and used the nearby wall to paddle her way out the window, escaping the building.

"The hero team! Wins!" All Might announced.

"Yeah!" Ochaco cheered, before realizing that she would now have to find a way down.

Back with Izuku and Bakugo.

Bakugo's pupils dilated as his eyes filled with despair.

He had lost. To Deku.

Sure he had technically won the fight, but he lost the freakin war! And what's worse, Izuku had used him to do it!

"Sorry, Kacchan. I honestly didn't want our fight to end like this. I wanted to beat you in a straight fight." Izuku lamented. "But I couldn't weigh Ochaco down by being selfish so I had to do this. Next, time let's fight. Just like we used to."

And with those words, Izuku gave in to his exhaustion and passed out.

Leaving Bakugo to stir in his defeat.

Later, in the surveillance room.

Izuku and Bakugo had been taken to Recovery Girl, with Bakugo eventually returning, albeit extremely tired and despondent, but Izuku had to remain as he was in worse shape and still unconscious.

Ochaco had used her quirk to get her and the weapon down safely. And Zamasu had been recovered from the building's rubble, completely fine thanks to his quirk.

Now three of the battle's participants, as well as the rest of the class were grouped together to review the battle.

"Now that was...something." All Might said. "Can someone tell me who the M.V.P. of this battle was?"

Momo raised her hand.

"Ah yes, young Yaoyorozu, please explain." All Might said.

"Well this battle was rather sloppily fought to put it lightly, but if I had to pick someone it would be Midoroya," Yaoyorozu said. "Uraraka was simply following Midoriya's orders, and while she did her part well she was mostly relying on Midoriya. Zamasu removed anything Uraraka could have used to fight him, but...that was all. He didn't do anything else during the battle, nor did he make any attempt to work with his partner."

"As if he would let me." Zamasu objected. "And how as was I supposed to predict them demolishing the building, although that does sound like something he would do."

"Young kai, please let her finish." All Might told him, silencing the rich boy.

"As I was saying, Bakugo performed the worst in this battle." Momo continued, making Bakugo flinch for a moment, but he didn't do anything else but softly glare at her. "Not only did he make no attempt to work with his partner, but he also completely forgot about the exercise, in favor of pursuing a personal grudge. Allowing Midoriya to trick him into destroying the building."

Bakugo hated every word she just said…because it was all true. And he couldn't deny it.

"Midoriya, while seemingly putting his desire to fight Bakugo over the exercise as well, at least kept the exercise in mind throughout the fight," Momo said. "However he did take advantage of the fact this was exercise, as demolishing a building to achieve your goal is not something a hero should do."

"I uh...couldn't say it any better myself!" All Might said.

While everyone else was talking, Bakugo could only think one thing.

He lost.

He wasn't double-teamed like all the other times he lost. Snot face was even on his side this time.

Deku outsmarted him. Used him! And he played right into his hands! Deku said it was easy!

He clenched his hands, he wanted to let off some explosions, but the pain in his arms told him that was a bad idea.

 _I won that fight! I won the fight! I...damn it! It doesn't fucking matter if I won the fight! As a hero, I still fucking lose!_ Bakugo thought.

As a hero, even if he beat the villain, it wouldn't matter. If the villain fulfilled their ultimate plan, then that was his loss. He wasn't strong enough or smart enough to stop Deku from playing him, and so, he lost.

While Bakugo was stirring in his own defeat, Zamasu watched him, smirking slightly.

The loss had definitely stunned quite a bit, but he found comfort in telling himself there was nothing he could have done, and that he had been screwed over from the start. It wasn't his fault he was given a detriment instead of a partner.

Another thing he found comfort in, was seeing Bakugo's despair. Looking upon his shell shocked face, the sheer agony in his expression, made losing almost worth it.

 _I shall save this image in my memory._ Zamasu thought, before turning his attention back to the class. _Now I should ask for a recording of these upcoming fights._

After all, if Izuku knew he missed all these fights, he would probably cry...again.


	7. Episode 7: A New Challenge Awaits

It was a new day for Class 1A as they all sat silently in their seats, waiting and wondering what would happen now, what crazy thing would their teacher do now?

"Today you'll be electing a class president and vice president," Aizawa told them as he was already climbing back into his sleeping bag.

"It's so normal!" Shouted out most of the class.

"What is there to decide." Zamasu shook his head, he had a very confident smile on his face as if he had just won something. "Obviously I-"

"I wanna be president!" Mina suddenly said, interrupting Zamasu.

"No, it should be me!" Kaminari said.

As the class clamored to be the one to be president, one voice spoke loudest among them all, as usual

"Everyone! Please settle down! We must pick a representative in an orderly fashion!" Iida shouted. "I suggest we do so in a democratic manner!"

"You're suggesting a vote?" Zamasu asked him, taking a moment to think on it. "While that sounds appealing, I'm not sure our classmates can look past their own greed, they would likely only vote for themselves."

"Did he just call us greedy?" Toru asked, slightly annoyed by Zamaus's tone...and words...and face.

"But I suppose that would make the one to gain the most votes, truly remarkable among the class," Zamasu said getting even smugger, as he believed he already knew who that would be.s

"I think that's a great idea!" Ochaco spoke up.

"Well, it's not like anyone has any better ideas." Jiro sighed.

"Just don't take too long," Aizawa said from his sleeping bag.

One vote later.

After putting down and taking votes, the results were that most of the class, as predicted, had one vote. With the exception of,

Ochaco, Todoroki, Tokoyami, Koda and Ojiro, who all had zero votes.

And Izuku, who had six votes.

"WHAT!?" Shouted Izuku, Zamasu, and Bakugo.

"How did I get that many votes! I didn't even vote for myself!" Izuku was flabbergasted.

"I gained no votes from anyone but myself!? Zamasu was equally shocked.

"Ok! Why did you fuckers vote for Deku!" Bakugo shouted at the people with zero votes. "Don't try to deny it! You fuckers are the only ones who didn't vote for yourselves!"

"I mean, Midoriya's smart, and really nice so why not?" Ochaco shrugged, her answer making Izuku blush a bit.

"I had no desire to be class representative," Todoroki replied coldly. "Midoriya seems to be one of the more competent people here without also having an irritating ego."

"My thoughts mimic his," Tokoyami said.

"I-I didn't want to be president either," Koda said quietly.

"I had the same thoughts," Ojiro answered sheepishly.

"But wait, if Midoriya didn't vote for himself, then there's another person who voted for Midoriya that Midoriya must have voted for." Momo deduced.

"That would be me I believe!" Iida shouted. "I also voted for Midoriya! I believe in his intelligence, and his ability to lead!"

"Y-you, guys." Izuku was blushing with embarrassment while hiding his face. While he had no desire to be class president, he was a bit touched as well as shocked that so many of his new classmates would put their faith in him so quickly. A far cry from his time in middle school where he was mostly ignored.

"You voted for Iida, over me!?" Zamasu asked his friend, sounding quite offended.

Izuku shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry Zachan, you were president of your class in middle school and I heard horror stories about it. I don't want to put this class through that."

"Thanks for that!" Shouted a good number of the class.

"Hmph! While Izuku is not a terrible leader, all of you will come to regret not gracing yourselves with my leadership." Zamasu huffed.

"I think we're all ignoring a big problem here," Momo spoke up, getting everyone's attention. "Midoriya is the only one to have above one vote. Meaning that we have no way of deciding a vice representative."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Mina said.

"Tch, count me out. I'm not gonna be number 2 to shitty Deku." Bakugo grumbled, leaning back in his chair and putting his feet on the desk.

"Yeah no offense, being vice rep sounds kinda lame," Kaminari said.

"Yeah, why don't you have it then?" Mina suggested.

"That sounds good." Sero agreed nonchalantly.

"Anyone have any issues giving it to Yaoyorozu?" Mina asked the class.

Zamasu and Iida were about to speak but they were cut off.

"No one? Good! Congratulations Mrs. Vice President!" Mina said as she and most of the class started applauding her.

"What?" Momo was taken aback by how quickly that all just happened.

Iida and Zamasu were about to object, but the bell rang, and everyone ran out. Leaving their voices, for the first time, unheard.

Later, at lunch.

"Can you believe that farce of an election!" Zamasu vented, to Izuku, Ochaco, and Iida, as they all sat together.

"I too am upset about the election, although the spot of representative was given democratically, and fairly, therefore I can not object to it," Iida said. "However I can object to the vice representative spot, being given away so quickly!"

"That as well upset me quite thoroughly," Zamasu said as he angrily sipped his tea. "I mean no insult to Mrs. Yaoyorozu, she has placed very high, if not first, on many of the tests we have been given so far in all categories, but to give such a position away so quickly and without giving it proper consideration!"

"You guys were both class president's in your old schools huh?" Ochaco inquired.

"How could you tell!?" Iida asked her, shocked that she could have figured that out without him telling her.

"It's kinda obvious. You have the glasses and everything!" Ochaco explained. "Also why didn't you vote for yourself? You would have gotten vice president if you did."

"I believe that voting for oneself is a bit arrogant. If you truly believe you're the one best qualified then you should trust in the democratic system and that your peers will make that decision!" Iida explained.

"I don't necessarily agree. Some people do not know what they truly want or need, as this election has shown." Zamasu remarked.

"Wow, so he's just like that all the time. It's like the smug rich bad guy from all those sports movies is on our side." Ochaco commented.

"Yeah basically." Izuku agreed.

Before Zamasu could object, suddenly an announcement came on the loudspeaker.

"Can Zamasu Kai see me in my office please." Came Nezu's voice on the loudspeaker.

"Why would Nezu want Zachan?" Izuku asked aloud, before giving his friend a look of suspicion. "You didn't try to "Smite" anyone did you Zachan?"

"Firstly, no, and secondly if I did they deserved it for blaspheming." Zamasu got up and started walking towards the exit. "I will return once this affair has been settled. Until then, talking amongst yourselves."

Once Zamasu had left Ochaco spoke. "He knows we were gonna do that anyway right?"

"Yeah, I think Zachan thinks we'd forget to breathe without him around to tell us." Izuku elaborated.

"He is an interesting person, however, he is quite conceited," Iida said.

"But enough about him, did you see those fights yesterday!? Well I mean of course you did but wow! So many interesting unique quirks!" Izuku started to ramble. "I wonder if I could use anything in those battles as inspiration! Like maybe I could mimic Hakagure's flashes with the light from my ki! Or-"

**BRRRRR! BRRRR! Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!**

It was only a few moments after that the school decedent into total panic.

"Villains! Villains are attacking!" Shouted one panicked student.

"Run!" Shouted another.

Students were running around frantically, trying to leave the cafeteria. They were so scared they even trampled some of the other students.

Then suddenly, the alarms stopped.

"Students, please do not panic." Came the voice of Nezu from the loudspeakers. "It is not villains, it is just the media. There is no danger, and the press will be escorted off the premises by the police very soon. Continue on your days as scheduled. Thank you."

This made everyone stop. And slowly everything returned to order. With some students grumbling and cursing out the press.

"That's insane!" Ochaco stated. "Did the press actually break in here! I mean, they were pretty pushy this morning but that's illegal!"

"It is shameful behavior!" Iida shouted. "Normally I do not condone calling the press such things as vultures and rabid dogs and other comparisons to animals, but this behavior is exactly what spawns such names!"

"Ahhhh, I don't know how I'm gonna deal with that when I become a hero." Izuku threated. He wanted to become the number one hero more than anything, but he often forgot about the downsides that would come along with that position.

Speaking of positions and downsides.

Izuku didn't know how to feel about being voted class president. Part of him was touched and wanted to accept the position simply because so many of his classmates had voted for him and refusing could be seen as an insult to them(at least in his eyes).

On the other hand, he really didn't want to be class rep. It was a lot of work that overall would do very little to improve his skills as a hero. Why spend time organizing class events(not that Izuku would have any idea how to do that considering his social experience was close to zero) when he cloud be sparing with fun opponents?"

A metaphorical light bulb went over Izuku's head.

Later, back in class.

Izuku and Momo stood side by side, as the two elected representatives. Everyone else had returned to their seats, including Zamasu, however when the green boy returned they noticed a murderous aura around him as he was noticeably very pissed about something.

"Alright, is everyone sure that these two should be the class representatives?" Aizawa asked.

Before anyone else could answer, Izuku spoke up. "Actually sir, I don't think that's a good idea."

Aizawa sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "And why not?"

"The election was shown to not be a very good idea. Most of the people in class voted for themselves and the ones who didn't only voted for me because they didn't want to vote for themselves." Izuku pointed out. "So I propose a different a different system of electing a representative."

"What is it some kind of tournament?" Aizawa said sarcastically.

"Yes! How'd you know?" Izuku gasped.

Aizawa facepalmed. He knew he had a bad feeling about this. "There is no way-"

"That's a great idea!" Mina shouted.

"That's so much less boring!" Kaminari agreed.

"Election by combat! Manly as hell!" Kirishima added.

"For once you're saying something worth hearing Deku!" Bakugo actually agreed with Izuku on something for once. "I'm gonna kick your ass so hard those fucks'll be embarrassed they ever voted for ya!"

"I agree with this proposal." Was all Zamaus said, his voice oozing anger at...something.

"It sounds fun!" Ochaco said jumping onto the bandwagon.

"Now wait just a minute!" Momo interjected. "While I agree the election may not have worked out as intended, but electing a representative based on fights seems barbaric!"

"My thoughts exactly!" Iida agreed.

"Do you guys have a better idea," Mina asked them.

"W-well...no," Momo answered hesitantly. "But-"

"Then fighting it is!" Kaminari shouted.

"Yeah!" Shouted most of the class.

Aizawa wondered how he was gonna get through a whole year with these kids. "Fine. We'll hold this...tournament tomorrow. You all will be in charge of organizing it and once the result is decided, that's it. I don't want to hear any more complaints or objections. Understood?"

"Yes sensei!" Answered most of the class.

Izuku's tail was wagging with excitement, however, he stopped as and looked over at Zamasu who was still absolutely livid.

 _I wonder what he's upset about?_ Izuku thought.

Later, outside the gate.

Izuku, Ochaco, Iida, and Zamasu had all gathered by the gate, and only one person was missing.

Videl.

"Let's go," Zamasu said, his tone serious, and very angry.

"Wait, what about Videl?" Izuku asked him.

"She has already returned home," Zamasu answered curtly.

"She went ahead of us?" Ochaco asked with a frown.

"I have a feeling that it is not so simple." Iida speculated.

Izuku saw Zamasu's fist clench in anger. "Zachan...what's going on?"

"...This morning. A few students from Videl's class attempted to "show her, her place" by attacking her during the lunch period." Zamasu explained, "In other words-"

"Quirk discrimination. They attacked her because she was quirkless" Izuku grit his teeth. A well of familiar emotions, sadness, anger, frustration, bubbled inside him. This was not the first time something like this had happened, but to think it happened at U.A…

"Disgusting." Iida's look of disgust told his entire opinion on the matter. "To think that such behavior would be present at a prestigious school like U.A. truly disappointing!"

"People would really do something like that just because she doesn't have a quirk?" Ochaco asked in horror.

"It gets worse...it always gets worse," Izuku said dejectedly. "Because Videl's never one to go without a fight."

"Indeed she is not. Of course having a one against seven-fight with no quirk is quite a feat even for her, so she was significantly injured, even more so than the villains she defeated." Zamasu explained, letting a bit of pride show in Videl's achievement, as if he personally had been responsible for it, before switching back to anger. "Yet despite her achievement, and despite her merciful restraint, those….scum accused her of attacking them, and are threatening legal action if U.A. doesn't expel her."

While Iida and Ochaco had reactions of mixed horror and disgust, Izuku maintained his frustrated resignation.

"And one of them was from an influential family?" Izuku asked.

"A few of them actually." Zamasu's anger grew and grew with each word. "However none of their families were anywhere near as influential as my own. Which is why I was called. Principal Nezu needed something to ward off their attempts at attacking them legally, and so naturally, knowing my relation to Videl, he summoned me to his office."

"So he wants to use your family as a threat to keep them in check," Izuku said, filling in the blanks. "So she'll be using your family's name a shield again. That's…"

"A slap in the face," Zamasu said, his words filled with venom. "I can only imagine the disappointment she must feel. First not gaining entrance to the hero course because of an unfair exam, and then facing the same discrimination and mistreatment she has been victim to over and over again. Such things have no place in a school famous for their heroes."

"Wait this has happened before?" Ochaco asked.

"Far too many times," Zamasu answered grimly. "At least this time the Principal is not doing his best to aid the villains."

"What does that mean?" Iida asked. "Are you suggesting the facility of Videl's previous school's, have attempted to aid Videl's attackers rather than her?"

"Yes, many of them held discriminatory views, and saw nothing wrong their students verbally, or physically assaulting others, so long as those others lack a quirk." Zamasu seethed. "Fortunately Videl is more than capable of handling herself physically, however, those altercations would often end in her getting expelled, as well as having many exaggerated falsehoods being added to her record. Of course thanks in no small part to myself and my family, we have undone these wrongs, as well as shutting down several schools responsible for this nonsense. But Videl despises this, seeing it as weakness."

"Videl's been through a lot because of quirklessness, and because of her personality," Izuku said.

"Poor Videl." Ochaco sympathized.

"Don't let her hear that?" Zamasu sighed. "She hates pity...I think...I think I shall return home alone. I need some time away from others."

Izuku nodded. "Ok, see you tomorrow Zachan."

"Quite," Zamasu said, before walking away.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Ochaco asked with great concern. "Is Videl gonna be ok?"

"They'll both be fine. Videl's too tough to let these things like this bother her for too long, Zachan's...Zachan hates anything that can be seen as, unjust. To the point where he labels everyone who does things like this, a villain, and thinks they should be treated just like real villains. He can get a bit extreme at times...but he'll get over it after tomorrow! Zachan's favorite way of relaxing is by sparing so I think that'll help!"

"Well, I hope your right," Ochaco said hopefully.

"Yes, let us hope for our classmate's mental well being." Iida agreed. "Is that why you suggested a tournament?"

"No, I just wanted to fight you guys." Izuku answer earnestly.

How will tomorrow's tournament end? Who will become class representative!? Find out Next Time, on To Go Even Further Beyond!


End file.
